THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

A  BIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR 


BY 

ELIJAH  R.  KENNEDY 


FOE  PRIVATE  DISTRIBUTION 


NEW-YORK 

PRINTED  AT  THE  DE  VINNE  PRESS 
MDCCCXCVII 


PREFACE 

Being  asked  by  General  Woodward's  brother 
to  prepare  a  memoir  of  the  General,  and  under 
standing  that  it  was  the  desire  of  the  family,  I 
undertook  the  task,  regretting,  however,  that  I 
tvas  not  better  qualified  to  adequately  portray  the 
amiable  and  notable  character  of  my  friend. 

Especial  acknowledgment  is  due  to  General 
George  W.  Wingate  for  assistance  in  the  nar 
rative  of  General  Woodward's  military  service. 
Professor  Franklin  W.  Hooper  is  entitled  to 
thanks  for  collating  the  facts  of  General  Wood- 
ward's  association  with  the  Brooklyn  Institute. 

E.  R.  K. 

Brooklyn,  May,  1897. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  LIFE 1 

ENLISTMENT  IN  THE  MILITIA  AND  SERVICE  UNDER 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  CALL  FOR  TROOPS  13 

SERVICE  WITH  THE  UNION  ARMY  IN  1862        .        .  54 

IN  THE  GETTYSBURG  CAMPAIGN        ....  95 

LATER  SERVICE  IN  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD       .        .  126 

"THE  MOST  USEFUL  CITIZEN  OF  BROOKLYN".        .  149 

ASSOCIATION  WITH  THE  BROOKLYN  INSTITUTE        .  172 

ILLNESS,  DECEASE,  AND  FUNERAL     ....  183 

TESTIMONIALS  OF  MANY  ASSOCIATIONS     .        .        .  202 

HOME  LIFE-— COMMEMORATIVE  STATUE    .       .        .  218 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  LIFE 

TOHN  BLACKBURNE  WOODWARD  was 
*J  born  in  Brooklyn  on  the  thirty-first  day 
of  May,  1835.  His  ancestors  were  of  Shake 
speare's  county.  His  great-great-grandfather 
Isaac  Woodward,  born  about  the  last  year  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  was  a  farmer  in  the 
parish  of  Berkswell,  Warwickshire,  where,  and 
in  neighboring  parishes,  the  family  had  been 
known  for  many  generations.  Rugby  and 
Leamington,  G-uy's  Cliff,  Stoneleigh  Abbey, 
Warwick  Castle,  the  imposing  ruins  of  Kenil- 
worth,  and  the  romantic  haunts  around  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon  were  all  within  easy  distances  of 
"  Marsh  Farm."  The  battle-ground  of  Naseby 
was  not  too  remote  for  a  day's  excursion,  and 
the  "three  tall  spires  of  Coventry "  were  but 
little  more  than  five  miles  distant.  On  the 
i  i 


2  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

death  of  Isaac  Woodward  his  oldest  son,  also 
named  Isaac,  succeeded  to  the  farm,  and  when 
he  too  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  the  prop 
erty  passed  to  the  control  of  his  oldest  son, 
whose  name  was  Thomas.  The  Woodwards 
were  thrifty.  Thomas  prospered  so  that  after 
a  few  years  he  left  the  place  he  had  inherited 
and  took  a  larger  place  at  Wotton  Green,  in 
the  same  parish.  In  1789  he  married  Martha 
Buckerfield,  the  daughter  of  a  Quaker  trades 
man  of  Kenilworth.  Of  the  children  of  this 
union,  the  third,  Thomas,  was  the  father  of 
John  B.  Woodward. 

During  the  Napoleonic  wars  the  farmers 
of  England  throve  beyond  all  precedent. 
"Wheat  rose  to  famine  prices,"  says  the  his 
torian  of  the  English  People,  "and  the  value 
of  land  rose  in  proportion  with  the  price  of 
wheat."  Thomas  Woodward,  senior,  and  his 
sons  were  cultivating  the  farm  at  Wotton 
Green,  investing  their  profits  mainly  in  im 
provements  and  betterments;  but  the  great 
increase  in  the  value  of  the  place  aroused  the 
greed  of  the  landlord,  who,  taking  advantage 
of  a  defect  in  the  lease  due  to  his  own  failure 


ENGLISH  ANCESTORS  3 

to  sign  that  paper,  demanded  such  a  heavy 
advance  in  the  rent  that  the  Woodwards  re 
fused  to  pay  and  chose  to  give  up  their  home, 
although  that  resulted  in  the  abandonment  of 
the  greater  part  of  all  their  property.  They 
met  their  adversity  with  fortitude.  The  sons 
were  apprenticed  to  various  trades,  and  the  fa 
ther  soon  found  employment  in  an  iron  foun 
dry.  Evidently  his  spirit  was  not  crushed, 
and  he  was  not  content  to  settle  into  the  ranks 
of  ordinary  workmen,  for  he  invented  several 
agricultural  implements,  the  most  important 
of  which  was  an  iron  plow,  believed  to  be  the 
first  ever  made.  Subsequently  he  moved  to 
London  and  engaged  in  manufacturing.  Al 
though  he  succeeded  fairly  well,  the  times  were 
extremely  discouraging.  All  currents  of  trade 
and  industry  were  disturbed  while  the  country 
was  adjusting  its  affairs  to  peace  conditions 
after  the  long,  feverish  period  of  the  Napo 
leonic  and  American  wars,  and  business  pros- 
spects  were  gloomy.  The  war  with  the  United 
States  directed  renewed  attention  to  the  young 
republic,  and  after  peace  was  established  many 
adventurous  Englishmen  crossed  over  to  seek 


4  JOHN  B.  WOODWAKD 

their  fortunes  in  the  new  world.  Perhaps  the 
best  known  of  these  was  William  Cobbett. 
His  writings  on  public  questions  had  enjoyed 
a  large  circulation,  and  his  imprisonment  for 
the  force  and  freedom  of  his  utterances  in 
popular  causes  had  raised  him  to  a  position  of 
great  influence.  He  was  hopeless  of  the  fu 
ture  of  the  old  country.  After  traveling  in 
America  he  sent  back  glowing  accounts  of  the 
States.  In  one  of  his  letters,  written  from  his 
farm  on  Long  Island  for  publication  in  Eng 
land,  he  said,  "  "Worried,  my  old  neighbors,  as 
you  are,  by  tax-gatherers  of  all  descriptions, 
from  the  County  Collector,  who  rides  in  his 
coach  and  four,  down  to  the  petty  Window 
Peeper,  the  little  miserable  spy  who  is  con 
stantly  on  the  lookout  for  you,  as  if  you  were 
thieves;  surrounded  as  you  are  by  this  ver 
min,  big  and  little,  you  will  with  difficulty 
form  an  idea  of  the  state  of  America  in  this 
respect.  It  is  a  state  of  such  blessings,  when 
compared  with  the  state  of  things  in  England, 
that  I  despair  of  being  able  to  make  you  fully 
understand  what  it  is." 
The  business  of  the  Woodwards  was  now 


EMIGRATION  TO  AMERICA  5 

established  in  London  and  certainly  was  not 
unprosperous,  but  the  father  was  a  reader  of 
Cobbett,  whose  writings  excited  in  the  mind 
of  the  disciple  great  hope  that  he  might  bet 
ter  his  fortunes  in  America.  Accordingly  in 
the  spring  of  1818  his  son,  Thomas  Woodward, 
Jr.,  was  sent  to  America  to  look  the  ground 
over.  The  reports  he  made  were  of  such  an 
encouraging  nature  that  late  in  the  same  year 
the  father  with  his  entire  family  started  for 
New  York,  where  they  arrived  early  in  the 
following  year.1 

Thomas  Woodward's  first  wife  died  in  1804, 
but  he  had  married  again,  and  the  family  he 
brought  to  America  consisted  of  his  wife  and 
his  four  sons.  Directly  after  they  were  settled 
here  Thomas  Woodward,  Jr.,  learned  the  sil 
versmith's  trade  and  soon  formed  a  partner 
ship  with  his  brothers  Charles  and  George  and 
a  Mr.  Hale.  Later  Mr.  Hale  retired  and  the 
business  was  continued  under  the  firm  name  of 

iln  America  the  Woodward  and  Cobbett  families  became 
friends,  and  in  1871  J.  P.  Cobbett,  a  grandson  of  the  publicist, 
presented  to  John  B.  Woodward  a  case  of  razors,  which,  as 
shown  by  an  inscription,  had  been  presented  to  William  Cob 
bett  by  the  city  of  Sheffield  in  1830. 


6  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Woodward  &  Brothers  for  nearly  forty  years. 
Originally  it  consisted  of  the  manufacture  of 
pencils,  but  Thomas  Woodward,  who  evidently 
inherited  his  father's  talent,  made  a  number  of 
useful  inventions,  the  most  profitable  of  which 
were  the  "Diamond  Pointed  Gold  Pen,"  the 
"Ever  Pointed  Pencil,"  and  the  "Shielded 
Safety  Pin."  In  1828  he  married  Mary  Barrow 
Blackburne,  daughter  of  John  Blackburne  and 
Elizabeth  Cook,  who  had  emigrated  from 
Liverpool  in  1822.  Through  her  father,  Cap 
tain  Robins  Cook,  Mrs.  Woodward  was  related 
to  Captain  Cook  the  celebrated  navigator. 
The  couple  lived  in  New  York  City  until  1829 
or  1830,  when  they  moved  to  Brooklyn.  In 
1832  Mr.  Woodward  built  the  house  now 
known  as  No.  100  Sands  Street,  numbered  84 
at  that  time,  where  he  resided  until  his  decease 
in  1873.  There  were  four  daughters  born  to 
them  and  four  sons,  of  whom  John  was  the 
oldest.  When  eight  years  old  he  was  sent  to 
school  to  a  man  whom  in  later  years  he  char 
acterized  as  "an  irascible  Irish  pedagogue 
named  Williams."  This  Williams  has  been 
described  as  good  hearted  and  quick  tempered. 


YEARS  AT  SCHOOL  7 

His  impulsiveness  got  into  his  discipline  more 
than  the  parents  approved,  and  they  deter 
mined  to  remove  their  son  from  his  care. 
Public  schools  had  not  then  been  established, 
so  the  lad  was  tranf erred  to  a  private  school 
kept  by  Miss  Seaver  in  Classical  Hall,  Wash 
ington  Street,  the  building  recently  used  as 
headquarters  by  the  Salvation  Army.  When 
ready  for  a  higher  grade  young  Woodward 
attended  the  school  of  Samuel  Putnam.  Long 
afterward  the  pupil  spoke  of  this  teacher  as 
"  a  scholar,  a  gentleman,  and  a  thorough  ped 
agogue."  From  here  the  boy  was  promoted  to 
the  academy  of  Benjamin  W.  Dwight,  in  Liv 
ingston  Street  between  Clinton  Street  and 
Sidney  Place.  These  were  the  best  educa 
tional  institutions  of  that  period,  and  young 
Woodward  made  all  possible  use  of  their  ad 
vantages  until  his  fifteenth  year,  when  he 
found  employment  in  the  office  of  his  uncle 
G-eorge  Woodward,  an  importer,  in  New  York 
City.  In  1859  Edward  Haynes,  an  exporter  of 
American  products  to  the  countries  watered 
by  the  Eio  de  la  Plata,  invited  the  young  man 
into  his  service  on  terms  so  encouraging  that 


8  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

they  were  promptly  accepted.  His  intelligence 
and  zeal  brought  him  early  promotion  and  it 
was  not  long  before  he  was  managing  the  en 
tire  concern.  Indeed,  the  young  clerk  evinced 
such  decided  talents  and  such  trustworthiness 
that  he  was  soon  taken  into  partnership.  On 
the  first  of  January,  1881,  Mr.  Haynes  hav 
ing  retired  on  account  of  broken  health,  Gen 
eral  Woodward  became  sole  proprietor,  and 
thus  he  remained  until  his  decease.  His  re 
lations  with  merchants  in  South  America 
ripened  into  warm  friendships  which  were 
severed  only  by  his  death. 

That  he  possessed  unusual  business  ability 
is  evidenced  by  the  prosperous  management  of 
his  own  concern  and  by  his  success  in  restor 
ing  to  sound  conditions  companies  and  institu 
tions  that  were  put  in  his  charge  when  they 
were  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  An  exten 
sive  manufacturing  establishment,  having  be 
come  seriously  embarrassed,  was  soon  reorgan 
ized  by  him  and  became  more  profitable  than 
it  had  been  previously  or  has  been  since.  A 
large  financial  institution  fell  into  an  unpros- 
perous  state  and  its  capital  was  impaired. 


CHAEACTEEISTICS  IN  BUSINESS  9 

General  Woodward  took  the  presidency, 
brought  strong  men  and  new  elements  into 
the  directorate,  and  in  a  couple  of  years 
turned  the  institution  over  to  a  successor, 
thoroughly  rehabilitated.  In  trust  companies, 
insurance  companies,  and  other  organizations 
with  which  he  was  associated,  his  energy  was 
of  great  service,  his  wisdom  in  council  was 
highly  prized,  and  his  imperturbable  good  na 
ture  often  reconciled  conflicting  elements  and 
established  harmony.  And  yet  he  acquired 
much  less  fortune  than  many  men  of  smaller 
capacity  and  less  favorable  opportunities. 
The  explanation  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  not 
that  he  was  charitable  and  generous — that  he 
surely  was  —  but  General  Woodward  gave  up 
to  the  unremunerated  service  of  others  and 
the  public  so  much  of  his  time,  and  such  a 
share  of  his  thought  and  ability  and  enthusi 
asm,  that  others  and  the  public  were  the  chief 
beneficiaries  of  his  talents  and  labors.  He 
lacked  only  the  will  to  turn  his  first-rate  abili 
ties  to  selfish  uses  to  have  become  a  very  rich 
man,  but  because  of  that  lack  he  left  a  far 
more  precious  legacy  than  "great  riches." 

2 


10  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

His  readiness  to  serve  others  was  inborn  and 
was  observed  while  he  was  yet  a  lad.  It  con 
tinued  through  his  entire  life  and  was  perhaps 
the  cause  of  his  untimely  death.  He  was  a 
truthful  man,  a  devoted  son,  a  loving  bro 
ther,  a  fond  husband  and  father,  a  genial  and 
loyal  friend,  an  able  administrator,  a  success 
ful  military  commander,  a  public-spirited  citi 
zen,  and  in  every  relation  in  life  his  most  con 
spicuous  characteristic  was  usefulness.  This 
trait,  displayed  through  his  entire  career,  and 
in  an  unusual  degree,  enabled  him  to  be  of 
great  service  to  his  family  and  to  many  rela 
tives  and  friends,  to  commercial  enterprises, 
to  philanthropy  in  practical  operation,  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  to  liberal  and  elegant  cul 
ture,  to  fraternity  among  men,  to  civil  govern 
ment,  to  the  military  system  of  his  state,  and 
to  the  nation  in  its  supreme  crisis.  No  one 
knows,  and  it  is  impossible  to  estimate,  the 
number  of  individuals  to  whom  he  rendered 
help  of  one  sort  or  another.  A  comparatively 
late  instance  is  that  of  a  sculptor,  now  be 
come  eminent,  whose  fame  was  greatly  aug 
mented  by  a  superb  work  for  which  he  per- 


A  VOLUNTEER  FIEEMAN  11 

haps  never  would  have  received  the  order  if 
General  Woodward  had  not  vouched  so  thor 
oughly  for  his  fitness  and  backed  up  his 
voucher  by  giving  his  bond  for  fifty  thousand 
dollars  warranting  that  the  young  artist 
should  complete  the  commission  within  the 
time  stipulated  and  according  to  the  accepted 
design. 

General  Woodward's  first  public  service  was 
in  the  volunteer  fire  department,  which  at  the 
time  occupied  a  peculiar  and  interesting  re 
lation  to  municipal  affairs  and  to  society. 
When  he  was  perhaps  only  seventeen  years 
old  he  joined  a  hose  company.  He  did  not  re 
main  long  in  the  department,  but  the  period 
was  sufficient  to  prove  that  he  had  moral 
stamina  enough  to  resist  temptations  that  led 
to  the  ruin  of  several  young  fellows  who  were 
his  associates.  Some  of  his  experiences  in  the 
department  he  used  in  after  years  to  relate 
with  hearty  merriment.  One  was  of  an  occa 
sion  when,  being  at  the  moment  of  an  alarm 
near  the  house  where  the  hose  carriage  was 
kept,  he  "took  the  tongue"  with  another 
member  of  the  company.  While  drawing  the 


12  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

carriage  out  they  were  joined  by  still  another 
member  and  the  three  started  down  Fulton 
Street,  near  Sands  Street,  where  the  grade  is 
very  steep.  The  man  who  had  hold  of  the 
rope  soon  let  go  and  sought  safety  on  the 
sidewalk.  Shortly  after  the  man  on  the  other 
side  of  the  tongue  was  compelled  to  relinquish 
his  grip ;  but  the  General's  legs,  which  he  de 
scribed  as  making  the  longest  and  fastest 
strides  they  ever  had  made  or  were  capable 
of  making,  enabled  him  to  continue  for  some 
time  steering  the  machine  alone.  At  last  the 
pace  grew  too  hot  even  for  him  and  he  let  go, 
but  the  hose  carriage  continued  running,  and 
its  momentum  was  so  great  that  it  went 
straight  on  and  over  into  the  river.  Forty 
years  after  he  would  tell  this  with  bated 
breath  lest  the  enraged  members  of  the  old 
company  should  discover  who  was  the  culprit 
responsible  for  this  inglorious  accident  to 
their  pet  machine.  While  such  incidents  and 
the  association  with  firemen  were  exciting,  he 
nevertheless  soon  discovered  that  his  tastes 
led  in  another  direction,  so  he  resigned  from 
the  hose  company  and  thus  left  the  fire  de 
partment. 


II 


ENLISTMENT   IN   THE  MILITIA  AND   SEEVICE 

UNDER  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  FIRST 

CALL  FOR  TROOPS 

ON  the  twenty-third  of  June,  1854,  when 
he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  young 
Woodward  joined  the  "  Brooklyn  City  Guard," 
afterward  Company  Gr,  Thirteenth  Regiment 
New  York  State  Militia.  With  brief  intermis 
sions  he  continued  in  the1  service  twenty-five 
years,  during  which  period  he  rose  to  the 
highest  position  in  the  force.  On  the  fifth  of 
October,  1855,  he  was  made  a  Corporal  and 
on  the  third  of  April,  1857,  First  Sergeant. 
On  the  eighteenth  of  February,  1861,  he  was 
elected  Second  Lieutenant.  In  every  place 
he  made  an  honorable  reputation,  and  even 
as  "Orderly  Sergeant  Woodward"  he  won 
considerable  distinction. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  put  the 


13 


14  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

national  capital  in  imminent  danger.  The 
President  appealed  to  the  loyal  North  for 
troops  and  the  National  Guard  organizations 
were  ordered  to  the  front.  Baltimore,  which 
commanded  the  communications  between 
Washington  and  the  North,  was  at  that  time 
controlled  by  rebel  sympathizers,  and  the  first 
troops  that  marched  through  the  city  were 
attacked  and  several  of  them  were  shot  down 
in  the  streets.  Orders  for  the  New  York 
militia  to  proceed  to  the  front  were  issued 
Thursday,  the  eighteenth  of  April,  1861,  and 
on  the  following  Tuesday  the  Thirteenth 
Regiment  marched,  six  hundred  strong.  Not 
only  was  nearly  every  member  of  the  regi 
ment  in  his  place,  but  a  large  number  of 
new  enlistments  had  been  received.  The 
streets  through  which  the  regiment  passed 
were  crowded  with  patriotic  citizens  the  roar 
of  whose  cheers  made  it  almost  impossible  to 
hear  an  order.  Thirty-four  years  after,  when 
General  Woodward,  at  the  request  of  the  Edi 
tor  of  the  "  New  York  Herald,"  recalled  the  cir 
cumstances,  he  said :  "  I  was  then  Second  Lieu 
tenant  of  the  Brooklyn  City  Guard,  a  company 


COMPANY  G,  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT          15 

armed  as  infantry  and  attached  to  the  Thir 
teenth  Regiment  as  Company  Gr,  commanded 
by  Captain  E.  V.  W.  Thome,  Jr.,  who  was  edu 
cated  at  West  Point  and  was  a  typical  old 
army  officer,  a  courteous  gentleman  in  every 
sense  of  the  word.  As  the  outbreak  had  been 
foreseen  by  him  he  had  worked  to  get  the 
company  in  the  best  possible  shape  as  re 
gards  organization  and  equipment,  so  that 
when  the  summons  came  his  command  was 
ready,  and  very  few  companies  in  the  Na 
tional  Guard  proved  better  prepared.  The 
morning  of  the  twenty-third  of  April  found 
a  full  company,  every  office  filled  and  every 
man  equipped  for  active  service.  More  than 
this,  there  was  a  waiting-list  of  over  fifty 
whose  joining  at  once  followed  upon  the 
national  uprising,  who  could  not  be  got 
ready  in  time  to  leave  with  us,  but  they  fol 
lowed  within  a  week  or  ten  days.  Their  ac 
cession  made  the  company  one  hundred  and 
fifty  strong,  probably  the  largest  company 
mustered  into  service  under  the  first  call  of 
the  President As  to  the  company  it 
self,  no  finer,  truer,  better  men  were  ever  mus- 


16  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

tered  into  any  service.  I  cannot  now  call  the 
roll,  but  many  of  the  names  come  back  to  my 
recollection.  Of  the  officers,  there  were  Evan 
M.  Johnson,  Jr.,  later  on  Controller  of  Brooklyn ; 
John  W.  Elwell,  afterward  Lieutenant-Colonel 
of  the  Twenty-third  Regiment ;  Samuel  H. 
Kissam,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  William  H.  Vander- 
bilt;  Benjamin  Haskell,  Major,  and  Inspector 
of  the  Fifth  Brigade;  Drummer  Edward  G. 
Mclntyre,  now  the  famous  Drum-Major  of  the 
Thirteenth  Regiment;  W.  H.  Bulkley,  since 
then  a  general  officer,  and  later  Lieutenant- 
Go  vernor  of  Connecticut ;  Morgan  Gr.  Bulkley, 
since  Governor  of  Connecticut;  Samuel  W. 
Boocock,  the  trusted  broker  of  Wall  Street's 
greatest  operators;  William  Barnett,  afterward 
Captain  of  the  company;  Ned  Bullock,  now 
gone  over  to  the  silent  majority,  but  whom  all 
recall  with  affection;  W.  Henry  Condit,  who 
became  the  trusted  agent  in  China  of  A.  A. 
Low  &  Brother ;  John  A.  Cross,  Jr.,  son  of  one 
of  Brooklyn's  early  mayors;  George  R.  Dutton, 
a  New  Jersey  judge ;  Elbert  H.  Fordham,  who 
afterward  commanded  one  of  Massachusetts' 
famous  volunteer  regiments ;  William  A.  Hun- 


COMRADES  IN  ARMS  17 

ter,  son  of  another  Brooklyn  mayor,  and  Wil 
liam  K.  Hunter,  his  cousin,  who  succeeded  to 
the  command  of  the  company;  Isaac  Harris 
Hooper,  who  commanded  the  Fifteenth  Regi 
ment  Massachusetts  Volunteers  at  its  muster 
out;  Benjamin  Kimberly,  who  earned  fame  as 
an  officer  of  the  Forty-fourth  New  York ;  Joe 
Leggett,  known  to  every  old  Brooklynite  as  a 
ball  player  and  volunteer  fireman ;  Edwin  W. 
Ludlam,  now  one  of  Brooklyn's  gas  magnates  ; 
Fred  A.  Mason,  later  a  Colonel  of  the  Thir 
teenth  ;  Willis  L.  Ogden,  recently  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  Twenty-third  Eegiment;  Sam 
Patchen,  gone  on  before — he  was  one  of  the 
noted  family  of  that  name,  identified  for  years 
with  Brooklyn's  progress ;  Edwin  B.  Spooner, 
Jr.,  son  of  Brooklyn's  first  editor,  himself  an 
officer  in  the  Forty-eighth  New  York  Volun 
teers;  Nelson  A.  Shaurman,  before  the  war  a 
captain  of  police,  during  the  war  Colonel  of 
Brooklyn's  Ninetieth  Eegiment,  and  Brigadier- 
General;  Arthur  Sherman,  cashier  of  a  great 
national  bank;  Clarence  Stanley,  ("Cupid"), 
afterward  Adjutant;  Robert  B.  Woodward, 
Adjutant  and  division  staff  officer;  Harrison 

3 


18  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

White,  of  the  Ira  Harris  Light  Cavalry.  These 
scenes  of  the  twenty-third  of  April  come  back 
to  me— the  names  of  these  comrades  come 
back  out  of  the  mists  of  thirty-four  years.  I 
will  let  others  recall  the  deeds  of  the  famous 
old  '  mother  of  regiments,'  my  cherished  Thir 
teenth." 

The  regiment  proceeded  by  water  to  An 
napolis,  where  it  remained  several  weeks, 
forming  part  of  the  command  of  General 
Benjamin  F.  Butler.  During  this  part  of  its 
service  it  was  in  a  number  of  scouting  and 
reconnoitering  expeditions.  In  the  meantime 
General  Butler  made  a  descent  upon  Balti 
more  and  seized  the  strong  points  in  and 
about  the  city,  which  he  fortified  and  garri 
soned  by  the  regiments  under  his  command, 
thus  frustrating  the  purpose  of  the  Southern 
sympathizers  to  swing  the  place  into  line  with 
the  rebel  government.  The  Union  forces  were, 
however,  considered  insufficient,  and  on  the 
sixteenth  of  June  the  Thirteenth  Regiment 
was  sent  to  reinforce  them,  and  here  it  re 
mained  during  the  balance  of  the  term  for 
which  it  had  enlisted.  During  the  time  the 


THE  TRIP  TO  ANNAPOLIS  19 

regiment  was  away  from  home  the  young  sol 
dier  wrote  a  number  of  letters  which  gave  a 
lucid  account  of  the  campaign  and  conveyed 
vivid  pictures  of  camp  life.  The  letters  are  so 
characteristic  of  the  man  as  he  was  at  that 
time  that  it  would  interest  his  friends  to  pub 
lish  them  in  full,  but  the  limitations  of  this 
volume  make  it  practicable  to  use  only  such 
passages  as  relate  his  own  experiences. 

The  first  letter  is  dated  the  twenty-fifth  of 
April,  1861,  on  board  the  steamship  Marion,  in 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  is  addressed  to  his  fa 
ther: 

To  set  your  mind  at  rest  let  me  first  tell  you 
that  we  are  all  well  and  as  jolly  as  if  we  had 
severally  imbibed  the  spirit  of  Mark  Tapley. 
We  think  we  all  deserve  credit  for  being  jolly, 
for  until  we  got  into  this  bay  you  never  saw 
such  a  collection  of  woe-begone  looking  men 
in  your  life.  Although  we  are  well  adapted 
for  soldiers  we  make  the  worst  kind  of  sailors. 
Hardly  half  a  dozen  of  our  company  escaped 
without  a  sight  of  "swallows  homeward  fly 
ing."  Fortunately  the  Twenty-eighth  Regi- 


20  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

ment  were  unable  to  get  ready  in  time  to  take 
this  steamer,  as  was  intended,  or  we  should 
have  been  unbearably  crowded.  As  it  is  there 
is  hardly  room  to  walk  about  on  deck.  The 
officers  are  all  very  comfortably  quartered  in 
state-rooms,  but  the  privates  are  compelled  to 
sleep  wherever  they  can  find  room  on  deck  or 
in  the  hold.  Bob  [his  brother  Robert  B.  W.] 
was  very  uncomfortable  the  first  night,  as  he 
was  sick  and  was  obliged  to  lie  on  the  open 
deck.  Last  night  I  got  him  a  place  under  the 
dining-table  in  the  saloon.  I  gave  my  berth 
to  Dick  Lawrence,  who  was  fearfully  sick,  and 
I  took  my  blanket  and  the  floor.  My  hips 
feel  the  effect  this  morning.  The  only  inci 
dent,  so  far,  of  a  warlike  nature  has  been  the 
firing  of  a  shot  across  the  bows  of  a  brig 
which  had  not  her  colors  flying.  The  Stars 
and  Stripes  were  run  up  in  double  quick  time. 
We  are  bound,  as  near  as  I  can  judge,  to  An 
napolis,  and  thence  for  a  tramp  of  thirty-five 
miles  to  Washington.  We  are  all  much  more 
sanguine  of  a  peaceful  passage,  as  the  steamer 
Keystone  State  has  just  passed  us  and  an 
nounced  the  presence  of  the  Rhode  Island 


QUARTERED  AT  ANNAPOLIS        21 

militia  at  Annapolis  and  the  safe  arrival  of 
the  Seventh  Eegiment  of  New  York  in 
Washington.  Another  vessel  has  informed 
us  that  the  light-houses  in  this  neighborhood 
have  been  destroyed.  ...  If  you  see  a  re 
port  that  Jno.  B.  W.  is  promoted  to  be  First 
Lieutenant  believe  it,  for  it  is  true.  If  other 
promotions  follow  me  as  quickly  I  shall  soon 
be  in  command  of  the  U.  S.  Army. 

The  next  letter  is  as  follows : 

DREAMING  OF  HOME,  ANNAPOLIS,  MD. 
April  26th,  1861. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

We  have  recovered  from  the  effects  of  sea 
sickness  and  feel  quite  soldierly  again.  If 
again  compelled  to  go  to  war  I  hope  they 
won't  send  me  by  sea.  We  arrived  at  this 
place  last  night  at  nine  o'clock  and  anchored 
in  the  stream.  At  ten  o'clock  this  morning 
we  were  brought  ashore  and  landed  at  the 
grounds  of  the  United  States  Naval  Academy. 
Our  company  is  quartered  in  three  of  the  reci 
tation  rooms,  each  of  which  is  about  twenty 


22  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

feet  square,  the  floor  being  covered  with  ma- 
nilla  matting.  The  boys  are  quite  delighted 
with  the  luxurious  sleeping-places  provided 
them,  for  two  nights7  bunking  on  the  deck  of 
a  steamer  has  quite  changed  their  idea  of 
what  is  essential  to  comfort.  The  officers  are 
in  one  of  the  residences  of  the  professors,  but 
the  rooms  are  entirely  destitute  of  furniture, 
and  I  presume  that  the  pine  flooring  and  my 
hip  bones  will  be  in  too  close  association  to 
night  for  me  to  be  very  comfortable.  Our 
boys  are  so  delighted  with  this  place  that  they 
express  a  strong  desire  to  remain  the  balance 
of  their  lives.  .  .  .  News  has  just  reached  us 
that  the  election  for  state  convention  in  Mary 
land  has  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Secession 
ists,  so  we  look  for  squally  times.  I  cannot 
yet  reconcile  myself  to  the  idea  that  we  are 
on  a  war  expedition.  We  all  feel  so  full  of 
joke  and  heart  that  we  forget  we  have  pistols 
at  our  waists  and  boxes  filled  with  ball  cart 
ridges. 

The  next  letter  is  from  Annapolis,  and  is 
dated  the  twenty-eighth  of  April: 


AN  INTERESTING  SUNDAY  23 

I  find  that  the  duties  of  First  Lieutenant  are 
as  much  in  advance  of  my  expectation  as  is 
the  pay.  I  therefore  find  it  impossible  to  de 
vote  much  time  to  writing  letters.  Rest  assured 
I  will  omit  no  opportunity  of  communicating 
anything  of  importance  to  you,  as  I  am  sure 
you  must  be  even  more  anxious  to  hear  from 
us  than  we  can  be  to  hear  from  home,  because 
we  know  you  to  be  safe,  except  from  the  natu 
ral  evils  of  life,  whilst  we  are  exposed  to  very 
great  danger.  We  know  this  and  will  not  fail 
in  our  duty  to  you  any  more  than  in  our 
duty  to  our  country. 

I  attended  church  to-day  and  listened  to  a 
splendid,  although  exceedingly  pathetic,  ad 
dress  of  the  chaplain  of  this  post,  who  has  to 
day  received  what  he  termed  a  traitor's  letter 
from  his  own  son,  who  has  taken  up  arms 
against  his  father  and  enlisted  in  the  Southern 
army.  It  brought  out  all  the  finer  feelings  of 
the  men.  .  If  you  saw  our  departure  you  must 
have  noticed  the  red-shirted  company  in  our 
regiment  [a  company  composed  of  members  of 
the  volunteer  fire  department].  You  should, 
to  appreciate  these  men,  have  seen  the  tears 


24  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

roll  down  their  faces.  You  would  think  them 
a  hard  class  of  men  to  get  along  with,  but  our 
intercourse  with  them  is  as  pleasant  as  with 
any  of  the  corps. 

The  next  letter  is  from  Annapolis,  under 
date  of  May  second. 

Monday  I  was  despatched  to  Washington — 
was  highly  delighted  at  having  such  an  oppor 
tunity.  I  went  there  by  the  railroad,  which  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  government,  the 
entire  road  being  guarded  by  the  Sixty-ninth 
Regiment,  who  have  been  stationed  every  few 
hundred  feet.  The  capitol  looks  more  like  a 
flour  warehouse  than  a  building  for  legislative 
chambers.  The  Seventh  New  York  and  most 
of  the  Massachusetts  regiments  are  quartered 
there,  besides  fifteen  thousand  barrels  of  flour 
on  storage.  All  the  department  buildings  are 
also  converted  into  barracks I  was  in 
troduced  by  Lieutenant  Mears,  U.  S.  A.,  to 
Secretary  Cameron,  who  said  that  if  I  wished 
to  enter  the  army  he  thought  it  could  be  ar 
ranged.  I  did  not  accept  or  decline  it,  as  I 


EXPERIENCE  AS  FIRST  LIEUTENANT  25 

wished  to  hear  from  you.  As  I  presume  you 
would  not  like  it  I  have  not  allowed  myself  to 
think  much  of  taking  it.  My  present  pay  as 
First  Lieutenant  is  about  $1600,  (provided  I  get 
it),  and  the  duties  here  suit  me  to  death.  The 
work  is  hard,  as  our  recruits  require  much  pa 
tience  and  about  five  hours'  hard  work  a  day. 
My  voice  is  getting  into  pretty  good  training, 
and  I  have  it  so  much  under  control  as  not  to 
hurt  me  a  particle.  My  recruits  now  drill  as 
well  as  any  old  soldiers  on  the  Point.  I  am 
getting  a  first-rate  reputation  as  drill  master 
and  the  members  of  our  company  will  do  any 
thing  for  me 

We  have  not  a  sick  man  on  our  list.  All 
eat,  work,  and  sleep  well.  Night  is  the  fun 
niest  part  of  our  time,  as  fifty  of  us  sleep  in 
one  room,  on  the  floor,  and  the  noise  from  the 
heavy  breathing  and  snoring  is  most  comical. 
Hope  Uncle  Sam  won't  keep  us  much  longer 
without  our  letters. 

ANNAPOLIS,  May  3d,  1861. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

Fifteen  minutes  ago  (9  p.  M.)  our  quarters 
were  tremendously  excited  by  the  arrival  of 


26  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

the  mail.  Most  of  our  boys  received  letters, 
and  a  jollier  set  it  would  be  hard  to  find  than 
are  now  surrounding  me.  Am  delighted  to 
hear  from  home,  and  to-morrow  morning  shall 
start  with  new  ardor  for  my  work.  All  you 

say  will  have  strict  attention Four 

of  our  men  are  detailed  to  escort  Major  Ander 
son  to  Washington  to-morrow  morning.  This 
order  has  just  arrived  and  has  stirred  the 
boys  up  higher  than  before.  I  read  them  that 
you  were  at  the  drill  every  evening.  The  an 
nouncement  was  received  with  a  regular  tu 
mult  of  applause.  When  the  detachment  ar 
rives  we  shall  have  the  largest  company  that 
has  left  New  York  for  the  war.  We  have  now 
seventy-eight  rank  and  file,  and  we  see  by  the 
papers  that  fifty-seven  will  follow,  making  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five.  As  the 
law  allows  only  one  hundred  men  to  the  com 
pany  it  may  be  necessary  to  make  two  com 
mands,  in  which  case  a  further  promotion 
may  await  me.  We  prefer  to  keep  one  com 
pany  and  merely  parade  as  two  commands. 
Everything  remains  quiet  and  orderly  here. 
I  pass  out  frequently  into  the  city,  alone  and 


INCIDENTS  IN  ANNAPOLIS  27 

unattended,  day  and  night,  (attended  a  Ma 
sonic  meeting  once),  and  have  never  been 
treated  differently  from  what  I  would  have 
been  in  Brooklyn.  The  citizens  have  since 
our  stay  here  much  changed  in  opinion,  and 
every  day  spreads  a  new  lot  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  to  the  breeze.  The  city  appears  to 
have  been  deserted  by  the  wealthy,  as  the 
best  houses  are  all  closed.  There  seems  to 
be  very  little  business  done,  and  yet  few,  if 
any,  loafers.  Those  who  remain  here  are 
workers. 

The  Fire  Zouaves  passed  through  this  place 
this  morning.  They  are  the  only  troops  that 
have  been  here  who  were  unruly.  I  was 
standing  near  an  old  woman's  pie  stand  when 
some  of  the  Zouaves  came  up  and  asked  the 
woman  the  price.  She  told  them  a  levy 
apiece.  The  spokesman  said,  "Say,  fellows, 
here's  pies  at  a  levy  apiece.  Let's  levy  on 
them."  They  followed  his  suggestion,  and 
over  went  the  old  woman,  and  her  pies  were 
speedily  stowed  away.  A  few  of  us  made 
the  victim  of  the  prank,  (a  negro,  of  course), 
square  and  passed  on. 


28  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ANNAPOLIS,  May  9th,  1861. 

To-day  the  correspondence  has  quite  rolled 
in  on  me,  one  letter  having  with  it  a  parcel  of 
cakes  and  sausages  (from  Lizzie,  of  course).  .  . 
.  .  .  Have  finally  dismissed  the  army  position. 
My  errand  to  Washington  was  double — appa 
rently  to  take  charge  of  some  camp  equipage 
for  the  Seventh  Regiment,  really  to  deliver 
important  despatches  to  the  War  Department. 
This  was  not  known  even  to  the  men  who  ac 
companied  me,  and  I  have  not  before  this  told 
any  one.  I  was  as  glad  to  give  up  those  des 
patches  as  was  Sinbad  the  Sailor  to  get  rid  of 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain.  If  I  did  not 
deem  my  duty  to  my  company  paramount  I 
should  be  frequently  sent,  as  both  General 
Butler  and  Colonel  Smith  apparently  regard 
me  with  favor ;  but  I  am  specially  needed  here 

whilst  the  recruits  are  raw Evan 

Johnson  to-day  returns  to  the  corps,  we  hav 
ing  waived  our  rights.  To  enable  him  to  do 
this  I  have  resigned  the  First  Lieutenancy 
and  am  again  Second  Lieutenant;  so  I  am 
promoted  downward.  The  men  grumble  at 
me  for  my  good  nature,  but  I  deem  my  action 


MUSTERED  INTO  U.  S.   SERVICE  29 

right The  piece  of  poetry  from  Lizzie  I 

read  aloud  to  the  men.  I  think  it  the  best  of 
her  composition  I  have  read.  I  did  not  tell 
the  men  who  wrote  it,  and  there  was  great 
curiosity  as  to  who  the  "  only  brothers  "  could 
be.  None  guessed  right.  I  afterward  told 
them. 

The  next  letter  was  evidently  written  with 
some  pride,  for  at  the  head  there  is  a  hand 
pointing  to  the  significant  letters  "U.  S.  A." 

It  is  dated, 

QUARTERS  Co.  G,  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT,  U.  S.  A., 

May  14th,  1861. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that 

yesterday  at  4  p.  M.  we,  (our  company  only), 
were  mustered  into  the  United  States  service 
for  three  months  from  April  23d.  The  balance 
of  the  regiment  will  probably  be  sworn  in  in  a 
few  days.  Company  Gr,  you  see,  is  still  ahead. 
Captain  Thome  deserves  more  praise  than  can 
be  told  for  the  exertion  he  has  made,  ever 
since  we  first  received  orders,  to  place  and 
keep  us  ahead.  So  well  has  he  succeeded  that 


30  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

we  daily  refuse  scores  of  the  regiment  who 
wish  to  be  transferred  to  our  company.  Be 
sides,  he  is  the  most  popular  man,  either  on 
the  ground  or  in  the  city,  connected  with  the 
regiment.  It  is  glory  enough  to  serve  under 
such  a  man This  afternoon  we  are  or 
dered  to  parade  for  the  purpose  of  marching 
through  the  city,  to  celebrate  the  opening  of 
the  railroad  which  our  engineers  have  built 
connecting  our  yard  with  the  former  depot  of 
the  road.  We  regard  the  work  as  quite  an 
achievement,  and  are  very  proud  of  it. 

The  next  letter  begins  with  a  memorandum 
before  the  date,  as  follows: 

I  have  done  a  little  toward  endorsing  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  0.  K. 

The  date  is  the  eighteenth  of  May. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

I  have  this  moment  (11  A.  M.)  returned  from 
the  expedition  upon  which  I  was  despatched 
on  the  16th  instant. 

The  mission  upon  which  we  were  sent  was 


FIRST  FIRING  IN  VIRGINIA        31 

to  recapture  a  light-ship  which  was  taken  by 
the  Secessionists  from  Smith's  Point  and 
stowed  snugly  away  in  a  small  creek  about 
the  width  of  Byron  Eiver,  named  Mill  Creek, 
which  empties  into  the  Great  Wycomico  Eiver, 
a  tributary  of  this  great  bay.  We  arrived  at 
the  river  at  5  A.  M.  yesterday,  found  out,  by 
scaring  a  darky  until  his  wool  was  white, 
where  our  prize  lay,  went  there,  saw  her,  got 
alongside  of  her,  hitched  on,  and  brought  her 
here.  The  banks  of  the  creek  were  high,  look 
ing  as  if  washed  away  by  the  river,  with  un 
derbrush  to  the  very  edges.  From  this  the 
Lancaster  Grays,  who  had  charge  of  the  ship, 
gave  us  a  pretty  warm  fire.  After  patiently 
waiting  a  minute  or  two  I  gave  the  men  orders 
to  return  it,  which  they  did  most  gallantly. 
We  cannot  say  whether  we  wounded  or  killed 
any,  but  I  can  say  that  not  one  of  my  men 
was  touched,  even  in  his  clothes.  This  is  mi 
raculous,  as  we  were  exposed  on  the  upper 
deck  of  one  of  the  canal  propellers  without  a 
particle  of  protection,  unless  the  smoke-pipe 
may  be  considered  one.  Not  a  man  flinched, 
and,  with  one  exception,  they  watched  my  eye 


32  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

and  did  not  fire  or  move  a  muscle  until  or 
dered.  In  the  instant  of  firing,  by  order  of 
Captain  Flusser,  U.  S.  Navy,  (who  commanded 
the  expedition),  I  had  the  American  flag 
raised.  The  three  men  designated  for  that 
duty  laid  down  their  pieces  and  hoisted  the 
banner  beautifully.  We  gave  it  three  cheers 
and  went  at  it  again.  Our  boys  are  much 
pleased  with  their  trip.  Several  articles  will 
be  put  in  print  about  this,  the  first  firing  in 
Virginia.  I  have  no  doubt  they  will  draw  it 
pretty  steep,  so  make  a  discount  on  what  they 
write.  By  a  singular  coincidence  the  propel 
ler  upon  which  we  were  is  named  the  William 
Woodward.  I  enclose  a  list  of  the  men  who 
were  with  me.  I  have  written  in  a  hurry  and 
of  course  in  some  little  excitement,  as  all  the 
men  are  still  cheering  or  talking  around  me. 
The  ink  used  I  found  on  board  the  prize,  and 
have  written  you  the  first  account  of  our  suc 
cess  from  that  bottle. 

Yours  affectionately, 
JNO.  B.  WOODWAED,  Lieut.  U.  S.  A. 
P.  S.    I  forgot  to  mention  that  returning  we 
overhauled  a  schooner,  which  turned  out  all 


FIRST  FIRING  IN  VIRGINIA        33 

right,  and  we  were  in  turn  overhauled  by  a 
government  vessel  which  cruises  off  the  Poto 
mac.  The  latter  incident  made  much  excite 
ment,  as  we  feared,  on  her  approach,  that  she 
might  be  a  Secessionist  vessel  ordered  to  re 
capture  our  prize. 

The  list  of  names  in  the  detachment  follows, 
and  as  this  was,  as  Lieutenant  Woodward 
states,  the  first  firing  in  Virginia,  and  an 
event,  therefore,  of  unique  interest,  they  are 
given  here: 

Lieutenant  WOODWARD,  in  command. 

Sergeants.  Corporals. 

KISSAM  and  ECHALAZ.  HYDE  and  COOMBS. 

Privates. 

1  FULLER,  1st  9  LORD 

2  FULLER,  2d  10  PLUMMER 

3  STRACHAN  11  THOM^ 

4  SHAURMAN  12  BOOCOCK 

5  PATCHEN  13  DANA 

6  YOUNG  14  TITUS  (ALFRED) 

7  WALDEN  (C.  C.)  15  HOOPER 

8  MORE  16  McCoBB 

5 


34 


JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 


Privates.  - 

17  LAWRENCE 

18  WOODWARD  (R.B, 

19  WHEELWRIGHT 

20  SMITH  (Gk  H.) 

21  WlLLARD 

22  HITCHCOCK 

23  KlMBERLEY 

24  ERKENBRECK 

25  McFARLAN 

26  PLACE 

27  STANLEY 

28  BEST 

29  DUCKWITZ 

30  EOCHE 

31  EOYCE 

32  AYERS 

33  EIDNER 

34  TAYLOR  (S.  C.) 


-  (Continued.) 

35  SHEFFIELD 
)      36  WHITNEY 

37  WILSON 

38  BULKELEY(W.H.) 

39  CONDIT 

40  HOPKINS 

41  BULLOCK 

42  HARPER 

43  HAYNES  (Tm) 

44  WHITE  (G.  B.) 

45  FORDHAM 

46  SPENSE 

47  WALSH 

48  CROSS 

49  EOBINSON 

50  SMITH  (CAD.) 

51  BARNET 

Total  .     .  56. 


The  rebel  account  of  this  affair,  taken  from 
a  Southern  paper,  is  curious  reading.  The  in 
formation  was  furnished,  so  the  paper  said, 
"by  Lucian  Hall  of  the  Lancaster  (Va.) 
Grays." 


REBEL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  AFFAIE      35 

"  It  is  untrue  that  any  of  our  '  rebels '  were 
killed  in  the  recent  skirmish  in  the  recapture 
of  the  Smith's  Point  light-ship.  On  the  other 
hand  some  eight  or  ten  Federal  troops  must 
have  been  killed  and  a  number  wounded.  A 
man  at  the  masthead  was  struck  by  a  minie 
ball  and  fell  with  great  violence  to  the  deck. 
His  fellow  troops  instantly  gathered  around  in 
great  numbers,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the 
moment,  our  volunteers  let  fly  another  volley 
at  the  bunch.  Several  fell  under  the  fire. 
About  this  time  the  Federal  troops  became 
highly  exasperated  and  returned  the  fire  with 
much  spirit.  Mysterious  as  it  may  seem,  not 
a  man  on  our  side  was  hurt.  The  boat  now 
hurried  off  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  not  un 
til  she  was  beyond  the  range  of  musket-balls 
did  the  volunteers  cease  to  fire  upon  them. 
In  passing  out  of  the  Wycomico  River  the 
propeller  stopped  a  small  vessel  and  took  pos 
session  of  the  captain,  but  subsequently  let 
him  go.  The  captain  states  that  the  decks 
were  partially  covered  with  blood.  He  inno 
cently  inquired  of  an  officer  how  many  were 
killed.  'That  's  none  of  your  d busi- 


36  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

ness,'  was  the  reply.  The  inference  was  plain 
that  somebody  was.  This  is  authentic,  not 
withstanding  the  false  telegram  recently  sent 
from  Washington." 

The  fact  is  that  the  rebel  marksmanship 
caused  no  greater  damage  than  inflicting  a 
wound  upon  the  flag-staff  of  the  vessel  which 
carried  the  gallant  Brooklyn  soldiers.  As 
Lieutenant  "Woodward  was  standing  near  the 
flag-staff  at  the  time,  the  splinters  were  scat 
tered  upon  his  uniform. 

The  next  letter  is  dated  the  twenty-fifth  of 
May,  and  like  the  others,  is  from  Annapolis: 

All  the  inhabitants  here  concur  in  saying 
that  this  is  the  coolest  and  pleasantest  Spring 
ever  known.  The  weather  in  the  main  has 
been  beautiful,  but  subject,  as  with  you,  to 
sudden  changes.  Up  to  the  middle  or  end  of 
July,  I  am  told,  a  breeze  springs  up  at  11  A.  M. 
and  lasts  until  2  o'clock.  Thus  far  I  have 
found  it  unfailing,  and  almost  sufficiently 
marked  in  its  coming  to  enable  you  to  set 
your  watch  by  it.  In  the  evening  it  blows 
back  again.  No  matter  from  what  quarter  it 


CONDITIONS  AT  ANNAPOLIS  37 

comes  it  is  cool  and  refreshing.  I  am  told 
there  is  not  a  stone  as  large  as  my  hand  to  be 
found  within  twenty  miles  of  this  place,  un 
less  an  imported  article.  The  houses  and  out 
houses  are  poor  and  dilapidated  —  everything 
about  one  hundred  years  behind  this  Yankee 
age.  One  acre  in  ten  cultivated,  or  rather 
half  attended  to.  Have  seen  a  few  good 
horses,  owned  by  the  wealthier  residents,  who 
are  continually  on  horseback,  and  all  appear 
to  be  fine  riders.  It  seems  actually  cruel  to 
deprive  the  cows  of  their  milk,  because  they 
appear  to  need  all  the  nourishment  for  them 
selves,  and,  secondly,  it  is  of  very  little  use  to 
us,  as  owing  to  the  abundance  of  garlic  in  all 
the  pasturage  the  milk  has  the  flavor  of  onion 
soup.  Fishing  plenty  and  good  —  eels,  bass, 
and  pike.  Our  men  are  constantly  at  it  when 
off  duty.  Wild  ducks  have  been  very  numer 
ous  but  now  have  mostly  left.  For  other 
hunting  there  is  no  lack  of  game,  from  all  ac 
counts,  but  as  we  are  not  allowed  to  indulge 
in  that  line  I  speak  only  from  what  the 
townsmen  tell  me.  For  song-birds  we  have 
any  quantity  of  orioles  and  a  good  many 


38  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

mocking-birds.  At  daybreak  the  place  is 
fairly  alive  with  them.  I  think  it  was  a  wren 
that  I  heard  this  moment  in  the  tree  by  my 
window. 

No  movement  yet  towards  taking  us  from 
here.        Your  affectionate  son, 

JNO.  B.  W. 

ANNAPOLIS,  Sunday,  June  2d,  1861. 
We  are  just  in  the  midst  of  preparations  for 
two  important  events,  the  first  in  order  being 
of  unusual  importance  and  therefore  requiring 
unusual  care.  It  is  this :  we  have  invited  Col 
onel  Smith,  his  wife  and  daughter,  Mrs.  Cap 
tain  Thome,  and  two  of  their  lady  friends  of 
Annapolis,  to  dine  with  us  to-day.  You  can 
imagine  our  anxiety  to  have  our  quarters  in 
the  very  best  possible  trim.  This  has  at  last 
been  secured.  The  decoration  of  our  rooms 
has  also  been  the  subject  of  much  thought, 
and,  thanks  to  Joe  Leggett,  (the  very  best  fel 
low  in  the  entire  universe),  has  been  done  in 
an  exceedingly  gorgeous  style.  We  have  a 
stack  of  arms  surmounted  and  surrounded  by 
the  various  implements  of  war  in  our  posses- 


TWO  IMPOETANT  EVENTS  39 

sion.  The  dinner  is  to  be  a  superb  affair,  be 
ing  got  up  by  the  best  cook  in  town.  An 
hour  more  and  this  event  will  have  passed  off. 
Immediately  after  dinner  our  company  are 
ordered  to  embark  and  proceed  up  the  river 
and  to  land  detachments  of  ten  men  at  con 
venient  distances,  who,  under  charge  of  non 
commissioned  officers,  will  scout  the  country 
for  several  miles  on  each  side.  We  shall  prob 
ably  return  to-night.  I  go  to  a  point  where  a 
troop  of  cavalry  are  reported  to  rendezvous, 
who  have  lately,  on  several  occasions,  attacked 
our  picket  guard  located  about  eight  miles 
from  here.  We  are  ordered  to  go  without 
muskets,  relying  for  defense,  if  attacked,  (a 
very  improbable  event),  upon  our  revolvers. 
Next  Tuesday  or  Wednesday  one  hundred  of 
our  corps,  under  command  of  Captain  Thome, 
are  ordered  to  undertake  an  expedition,  which, 
if  successful,  will  give  us  great  notoriety.  I 
am  told,  (we  are  know-nothings  as  to  coming 
events),  that  we  go  to  the  village,  town,  or 
city,  of  Princess  Anne  and  from  there  strike 
inland  to  Snow  Hill,  where  the  people  have 
gone  crazy  and  turned  Secessionists,  have 


40  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

hoisted  the  rebel  flag  and  done  other  rebel 
work.  We  want  that  flag  and  expect  to  get 
it.  This  expedition  entails  upon  us  a  march 
of  twenty  miles  each  way,  which,  as  it  re 
quires  speed  in  its  accomplishment,  will  be 
very  apt  to  test  the  pluck  and  endurance  of 
our  scribblers.  We  do  not  expect  any  attack, 
but  if  one  is  made  I  think  we  shall  be  able  to 
come  out  right  side  up.  .  .  .  One  other  mat 
ter.  Our  company  is  about  160  strong  and 
more  coming.  This  gives  too  much  work  for 
us  all,  and  of  course  overcrowds  very  largely 
even  our  spacious  quarters.  It  has  therefore 
been  deemed  expedient  to  organize  a  new 
company.  The  initiatory  steps  have  been 
taken,  and  the  letter  I  given  to  us.  The  boys 
rebel  very  much  against  the  change,  as  all 
adore  Captain  Thorne  and  refuse  to  be  di 
vided,  unless  to  go  under  my  command.  I 
think  I  am  not  possessed  of  much  ambition, 
for  I  look  forward  with  great  reluctance  to  the 
task  in  store  for  me,  as  it  will  be  hard  work 
where  the  result  of  my  labor  will  not  be  to 
advance  the  interest  or  promote  the  comfort 
of  Captain  "Dick."  I  shall  do  my  best  and 


AN  INTERRUPTED  DINNER  41 

leave  the  rest  to  luck.  Don't  let  this  matter 
into  all  the  ring,  as  I  desire  it  be  not  known 
until  it  is  an  accomplished  affair.  It  would  do 
your  old  heart  good  could  you  see,  as  well  as 
hear,  the  attachment  exhibited  toward  me  by 
the  men,  and  their  willingness  to  link  their 
fate  with  mine.  Almost  every  evening  I  get  a 
comfortable  place  on  the  green  and  they  come 
around  me,  ask  questions  on  military  affairs 
and  explanations  of  movements  or  modes  of 
executing  various  motions  in  the  manual,  un 
til  I  feel  as  if  I  was  a  youthful  reproduction 
of  the  old  print  where  Peter  Parley  is  shown 
surrounded  by  his  friends. 

ANNAPOLIS,  June  9th,  1861. 

The  dinner  to  the  ladies  was  in  the 

"set  out"  a  grand  affair,  but  the  eating  was 
spoiled  by  the  reception  of  an  order  that 
started  us  on  the  scouting  expedition  an  hour 
earlier  than  we  expected.  Therefore  we  left 
the  feast  half  finished.  The  scouting  expedi 
tion  turned  out  an  exceedingly  pleasant  one 
to  me.  When  our  boat  had  proceeded  about 
nine  miles  from  this  place  Captain  Thorne 

6 


42  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

sent  me  ashore  with  four  men  to  see  what  I 
could  see  and  to  find  out  whether  any  forces 
were  skulking  in  the  neighborhood.  We  were 
landed  opposite  the  home  of  Mr.  Whitney,  the 
former  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  and 
were  most  hospitably  received  and  kindly 
treated.  Mr.  Whitney,  on  account  of  his 
Union  sentiments,  was  compelled  to  leave  the 
city  of  Baltimore  and  take  up  his  residence  in 
the  secluded  place  where  we  found  him.  His 
wife  gave  us  fruit  and  cream,  fine  bouquets, 
and,  best  of  all,  a  loaf  of  home-made  bread.  Her 
mother,  a  lady  sixty-eight  years  of  age,  desired 
particularly  that  I  should  mention  her  to  you 
and  tell  you  that  although  her  own  son  was 
a  major  in  the  Southern  army  her  sympathies 
were  all  with  the  North,  and  that  the  happiest 
day  she  had  known  for  years  was  last  Sunday, 
when  I  landed  and  she  took  my  hand  and  felt 
that  she  knew  one  who,  being  engaged  in  the 
Union  cause,  was  dearer  to  her  than  her  own 

son To-morrow  or  Tuesday  we  leave 

on  another  expedition.  Do  not  know  more 
about  what  we  are  to  do  than  I  did  a  week 
ago,  only  that  we  are  to  go  to  Fortress  Mon- 


MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS  43 

roe  with  the  Winans  steam  gun.  Keturning 
we  will  have  some  work  to  do  in  the  southern 
and  eastern  part  of  this  State.  I  am  very 
glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  see  General 

Butler  again Maria's  letter  with  the 

woodcut  of  Peter  Parley  has  been  received 
and  causes  much  amusement. 

ANNAPOLIS,  June  16th,  1861. 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  confusion  at 
tending  the  packing  of  knapsacks  and  the  pre 
parations  necessary  before  starting  on  the  ex 
pedition  which  I  mentioned  in  a  recent  letter. 
I  have  just  come  into  the  quarters,  having 
been  engaged  in  getting  the  Winans  steam 
gun  on  board  the  propeller  Sophia.  Our  mis 
sion  is  to  take  it  to  General  Butler  at  Fortress 
Monroe.  Returning  we  are  to  stop  at  Prin 
cess  Anne,  march  twenty  miles  to  Snow  Hill, 
and  there  do  something  or  other  the  details  of 
which  have  not  been  communicated  to  me. 
As  the  soil  in  that  portion  of  Maryland  is,  I 
am  told,  a  white  sand,  we  look  forward  to  a 
very  difficult  march  and  one  that  will  test  to 
the  full  the  endurance  of  our  boys ;  and  as  the 


44  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

inhabitants  have,  in  all  probability,  been  ap 
prised  of  our  approach,  through  the  foolish 
publicity  which  has  been  given  to  this  expe 
dition,  we  may  be  received  in  a  very  warm 
manner.  Our  pluck  may  be  put  to  the  test 
again.  From  the  result  attending  the  last  two 
expeditions  I  am,  however,  constrained  to 
think  that  we  will  return  with  u  nobody  hurt." 
I  sincerely  hope  this  may  be  so,  but  should 
we  be  drawn  into  a  skirmish  I  shall  endeavor 
to  do  my  duty  without  fear  of  the  result  which 
may  come  to  me.  Do  not  get  anxious  about  it, 
for  I  have  faith  that  Captain  Thorne  will  keep 
us  all  from  harm.  I  shall  telegraph  to  you,  or 
cause  it  to  be  done,  immediately  on  our  return. 
Presume  the  papers  have  informed  you  of 
our  trip  to  Baltimore  and  safe  return.  The 
entire  regiment  went,  and  this  place  was  left 
in  care  of  a  detachment  of  the  Sixth  Eegi- 
ment.  We  had  an  exceedingly  arduous  time 
of  it.  Twenty  hours  without  food  is  alone 
hard  to  bear.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  we  en 
camped  in  the  open  air.  Most  of  us  had  got 
to  sleep,  when,  at  twelve,  we  were  ordered  to 
march  to  a  train  of  cars,  where  the  balance  of 


ARRIVAL  AT  BALTIMORE  45 

the  night  was  spent  far  more  uncomfortably 
than  if  we  had  remained  on  the  gronnd. 

QUARTERS  Co.  G,  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT, 
CARROLL  HILL,  BALTIMORE,  June  17th,  1861. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

At  the  time  of  the  last  letter  I  wrote  I 
thought  I  was  to  be  off  within  five  minutes  for 
Fortress  Monroe.  You  will  see  that  I  was  in 
error,  for  here  we  are,  in  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
the  men  just  falling  in  for  the  purpose  of 
pitching  tents.  We  received  orders  on  Satur 
day,  just  as  our  corps  was  formed,  to  march 
on  board  the  propeller.  The  regiment  was 
"wanted  in  Washington."  We  were  rather 
angry  at  the  change,  but  soon  recovered  our 
spirits  and  packed  everything  up  in  double- 
quick  time ;  got  on  board  the  train  about  half- 
past  three  in  the  afternoon,  yesterday.  Sun 
day,  arrived  here  about  seven  and  formed 
camp  in  the  open  air.  Being  tired,  most  of  the 
men  were  soon  fast  asleep.  About  eleven  a 
heavy  rain  set  in,  when  I  started  them  up  and 
took  possession  of  an  old  house  and  outhouse 
where  the  night  was  spent  more  comfortably. 


46  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

It  is  now  threatening  rain  every  minute,  so  we 
are  all  in  a  hurry  to  get  our  tents  up.  We  have 
bid  Annapolis  good-bye  and  from  appearances 
are  about  to  engage  in  real  active  service,  as 
troops  are  pouring  in  here.  Of  course,  we  are 
overrun  with  rumors  as  to  our  destination  and 
business.  Norfolk,  Harper's  Ferry,  and  Ma- 
nassas  Junction  are  the  points  named.  The 
boys  are  all  in  good  health,  but  since  Thurs 
day  last  we  have  had  only  two  decent  meals. 
It  is  now  fifteen  hours  since  we  have  eaten 
anything.  We  are  encamped  on  a  miserable 
place  called  Carroll  Hill,  but  it  is  a  hill  the 
wrong  way  up,  for  it  is  a  swampy  piece  of 
ground,  low  and  wet.  As  we  expect  to  be 
here  only  a  day  or  two  we  shall  probably  not 
receive  any  harm. 

CAMP  BROOKLYN,  MT.  MCCLURE, 
NEAR  BALTIMORE,  June  19th,  1861. 

Our  tents  are  now  all  up  and  the 

men  pretty  comfortably  provided  for,  except 
that  on  account  of  the  insufficient  supply  of 
tents  they  are  very  much  crowded.  The  uni 
ted  action  of  the  line  officers  prevented  the 


THE  BALTIMORE  CAMP  47 

camp's  being  laid  out  in  the  spot  which  I 
mentioned  in  my  last  note.  We  are  now  en 
camped  on  a  hill  which  partially  surrounds 
the  swamp.  It  is  not  of  sufficient  size  for  the 
purpose,  but  it  is  much  better  than  the  other 
place.  The  soil  is  very  bad,  brick  clay,  and  our 
camp  is  surrounded  by  the  brick-kilns.  Of 
course  the  grass  grows  very  poorly,  and  what 
little  there  was  has  been  worn  off,  so  that  we 
are  terribly  dirty.  The  mud  sticks  to  our  feet, 
tracks  into  our  tents,  and  holds  fast  as  flour  to 
our  clothes.  The  utmost  disgust  is  displayed 
by  our  nice  young  men  when  they  ruefully 
survey  their  uniforms.  There  is  but  one  tree 
within  our  camp  lines  and  I  am  now  writing 
beneath  its  shade,  where  I  am  comparatively 
comfortable.  In  camp  the  light  of  this  white 
clay  and  the  tents,  in  the  sun  in  the  middle  of 
the  day,  is  almost  unbearable.  Still,  in  spite 
of  these  discomforts  all  our  men  prefer  being 
here  to  their  late  quarters  in  Annapolis.  It 
seems  more  like  what  we  came  for.  I  have 
traveled  some  in  Baltimore  and  have  exper 
ienced  no  trouble,  save  that  when  asking  in 
formation  in  regard  to  streets  and  places  saucy 


48  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

and  provoking  answers  are  frequently  re 
turned.  We,  however,  take  no  notice  of  them. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  two-thirds  of  the  in 
habitants  are  Secessionists  and  make  no  bones 
of  saying  so.  The  police  are  disloyal  to  a  man. 
It  is  therefore  impossible  to  get  a  decent  reply 
from  them.  I  asked  one  yesterday  where  Bal 
timore  Street  was,  knowing  at  the  time  it  was 
only  a  block  off.  His  answer  was  "  Just  fifty- 
nine  blocks  up  street." A  great  number 

of  troops  passed  through  here  yesterday  and 
to-day.  Some  big  movement  is  on  foot.  Don't 
know  whether  we  are  to  be  counted  in  or  sent 
home.  Rumors  each  way  are  very  plenty. 
General  Banks  reviewed  us  yesterday.  My 
health  is  good  once  more. 

COLEMAN'S  EUTAW  HOUSE, 
BALTIMORE,  Sunday,  June  23d,  1861. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  1854,  I  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Brooklyn  City  Guard.  That 
was  seven  years  ago  to-day.  I  am  therefore 
out  of  my  time,  and  I  feel  as  I  imagine  an  ap 
prentice  feels  when  his  time  is  out.  If  I  had 
more  money  I  would  have  a  blow  out,  but  as 


INCIDENTS  IN  BALTIMORE  49 

Uncle  Sam  does  n't  pony  up  I  must  wait  until 
supplied  with  the  sinews  of  a  spree.   .  .  . 

GOLEM AN'S  EUTAW  HOUSE, 
BALTIMORE,  June  30th,  1861. 

This  is  my  first  appearance  outside  of  camp 
since  I  last  wrote  at  this  table,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  Thursday  last,  when  our  regiment 
made  a  parade  through  some  of  the  principal 
streets  of  the  city.  In  some  spots  we  were 
well  received;  in  others  cheers  for  Jeff  Davis 
were  heard,  and  two  heroic  young  ladies 
waved  Secession  flags  at  us.  They  were  not 
molested.  Our  orders  are  now  very  strict. 
No  one  is  allowed  outside  the  camp.  To-day 
I  am,  therefore,  for  the  first  time,  away  with 
out  permission;  but  as  we  have  no  conven 
ience  for  bathing  at  or  near  the  camp,  and  as 
I  felt  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a 
clean  wash  and  shave  once  a  week,  I  have  taken 

the  risk. 

QUARTERS  Co.  G,  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT, 
BALTIMORE  CITY  PRISON,  July  3d,  1861. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

You  will  think  this  a  pretty  place  for  a  son 
of  yours  to  be  stationed,  especially  as  it  wants 

7 


50  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

only  four  hours  of  the  glorious  Fourth  of 
July.  But  here  I  am,  and  here  the  gallant 
Company  6-  are,  and,  I  presume,  will  remain 
for  a  day  or  two  longer.  We  are  inside  the 
walls  and  under  lock  and  key,  but,  thank  for 
tune,  the  key  is  in  our  hands.  Our  duty  is  to 
take  care  of  the  place  and  the  ward,  (the  8th), 
in  which  it  is  situated.  .  .  .  The  Secesh  are 
still  far  more  plucky  than  the  Unionists,  and 
the  young  women  are  particularly  impudent 
in  the  display  of  embroidered  rebel  flags  on 
their  handkerchiefs  and  basques.  We  return 
their  unladylike  salutations  in  our  usual  gal 
lant  manner.  Stutzer  very  kindly,  (and  I 
fully  appreciate  it),  sent  me  a  letter  of  intro 
duction  and  credit  to  a  business  firm  here, 
friends  of  his.  I  delivered  it  and  was  sorry  to 
learn  that  on  account  of  their  Southern  views 
it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  recognize 
me,  further  than  to  pay  my  drafts,  whilst  I 
wore  the  uniform  of  a  Northern  regiment. 
The  member  of  the  firm  said  that  if  I  would 
come  to  him  in  citizen's  apparel  they  would 
gladly  extend  any  and  every  attention  in  their 
power;  but  as  I  think  it  not  consistent  with 


A  NOVEL  INVESTMENT  51 

my  duty  to  purchase  any  personal  comfort  at 
the  cost  of  my  identity  as  a  Northern  soldier 
I  withdrew  the  letter,  giving  the  gentleman  a 
hint,  in  the  politest  manner  in  the  world,  that 
I  wished  neither  money  nor  favor  from  an 
enemy  of  my  government  and  my  country. 
I  returned  the  letter  to  Mr.  Stutzer  with  ex 
planations  and  hope  he  will  endorse  my  action 
in  the  matter. 

QUARTERS  G-  Co.,  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT, 
BALTIMORE  CITY  PRISON,  July  7th,  1861. 

You  will  observe  that  we  are  still  behind 
bolts  and  bars,  but  as  we  are  comfortable  we 
do  not  object.  Yesterday  a  negro  sentenced 
for  larceny  was  sold  as  a  slave  for  one  year,  to 
the  highest  bidder.  I  bought  him  for  ten  dol 
lars.  I  am  therefore  a  slave  owner,  and  have 
got  my  property  now  as  a  servant,  but  I  in 
tend  to  let  him  go  to-morrow.  He  is  a  very 
good  fellow.  Has  taken  a  desperate  fancy  to 
me  and  declares  he  won't  leave  "  his  marster  " ; 
but,  as  I  bought  him  for  the  sake  of  his  mo 
ther,  who  has  washed  for  me  since  my  arrival 
in  Baltimore,  and  not  for  my  own  benefit,  I 


52  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

shall  present  him  to  her.  In  this  State  a  free 
negro  is  sold  as  a  slave  for  the  length  of  time 
for  which  a  white  man  is  imprisoned.  The 
State  is  therefore  saved  expense  and  the  negro 
benefited.  The  boys  poke  a  good  deal  of  fun 
at  me  and  my  purchase ;  but  I  don't  mind  it, 
as  I  think  I  have  spent  ten  dollars  as  wisely 
as  I  ever  did  any  similar  amount.  [Only  a 
few  days  before  his  death  General  Woodward 
met  this  man  near  the  Down  Town  Club  in 
New  York.] 

CAMP  BROOKLYN,  BALTIMORE,  July  20th,  1861. 

Owing  to  the  absence  of  the  Adjutant  I  have 
been  detailed  to  fill  the  position.  I  have 
therefore  double  duty  to  perform  and  only  the 
same  time  to  do  it  in.  I  am  now  writing  at 
the  table  occupied  by  the  court  martial,  who 
are  now  in  session,  and  my  attention  is  mo 
mentarily  called  away  as  the  men  make  their 
various  excuses  for  being  absent  from  parade. 

We  expect  to  be  in  Brooklyn  next  Wednes 
day  or  Thursday.  It  seems  hardly  possible 
that  we  can  be  so  near  our  time  of  return,  and 
as  it  gets  nearer  and  nearer  I  feel  less  desire 
to  have  it  come.  We  are  now  so  comfortably 


RETURN  HOME  53 

located  that  it  appears  too  bad  to  break  up  the 
associations  of  camp  and  return  to  civilized 
life.  I  hardly  think  you  can  keep  me  home 
unless  you  rig  up  a  tent  on  the  grass  plot  and 
find  some  one  to  bang  at  a  drum  pretty  early 
in  the  morning. 

The  regiment  returned  to  New  York  on  the 
thirtieth  of  July,  when  the  members  were  at 
once  mustered  out.  Lieutenant  Woodward 
resumed  the  habits  of  commercial  life  but 
gave  strict  attention  to  his  regimental  duties, 
feeling  certain  that  he  would  be  called  on  for 
service  again. 

Before  leaving  this  eventful  period  in  the  life 
of  the  young  soldier  it  may  be  well  to  quote 
some  expressions  in  the  letter  of  a  private  of 
his  company,  written  to  his  uncle  in  Brook 
lyn,  from  the  headquarters  of  the  regiment  at 
Annapolis,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  May: 

How  proud   we    all   are    of  John. 

Every  one  loves  him:  he  is  the  backbone  of 
good  order  and  is  very  careful  in  looking  after 
our  comfort.  We  would  follow  him  anywhere ; 
and  his  courage  and  bravery  are  equal  to  any 
emergency. 


Ill 

SEEVICE  WITH  THE  UNION  ARMY  IN  1862 

ON  the  twelfth  of  November  Lieutenant 
Woodward  was  elected  Captain  of  Com 
pany  E,  Thirteenth  Eegiment.  His  parting 
with  his  old  company  was  quite  affecting,  and 
he  would  not  have  accepted  the  promotion  if 
he  had  not  been  fully  persuaded  that  it  opened 
for  him  a  larger  field  of  usefulness  and  pre 
sented  him  an  imperative  call  of  duty.  On  the 
twenty-fifth  of  January,  1862,  he  was  elected 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  regiment.  A  few 
months  later  the  rebel  army  of  Virginia  made  a 
sudden  advance  northward.  The  army  of  the 
Potomac  under  General  McClellan  was  on  the 
Peninsula,  endeavoring  to  reach  Eichmond. 
As  a  counter  movement  Stonewall  Jackson 
advanced  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and 
struck  Banks'  army,  which  retreated  to  Har 
per's  Ferry  in  disorder. 


54 


SECOND  DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  FRONT          55 

Washington  was  again  in  danger  and  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  appealed  for  a  second  time  to  the 
Northern  States.  As  in  the  previous  year  the 
response  of  New  York  was  prompt  and  effective. 
"Within  nine  days  after  the  call  twelve  regiments 
of  National  G-uardsmen  completely  armed  and 
equipped,  averaging  seven  hundred  men  each, 
were  hurried  to  the  front.  The  Thirteenth  Eegi- 
ment  was  among  those  called  out.  The  order 
for  its  departure  was  issued  on  May  twenty- 
sixth,  1862,  and  on  the  thirtieth  it  marched, 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-two  strong.  Before 
the  departure  the  leather  merchants  in  "The 
Swamp"  presented  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wood 
ward  with  a  horse.  As  the  regiment  went 
through  the  streets  of  Brooklyn  it  was  es 
corted  by  a  large  committee  of  citizens,  the 
buildings  were  profusely  decorated,  the  fire 
men  and  other  associations  were  drawn  up  on 
either  side  of  the  streets,  and  the  entire  com 
munity  turned  out  to  wish  the  men  Godspeed. 

The  regiment  was  at  first  ordered  to  Fort 
McHenry,  near  Baltimore,  where  it  remained 
until  June  fifth,  when  it  was  sent  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  Upon  Colonel  Woodward's  reporting 


56  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

to  Major-General  Dix  he  received  orders  for 
the  Thirteenth  to  proceed  to  Norfolk,  which 
had  just  been  evacuated  by  the  Confeder 
ates.  Passing  through  Norfolk,  the  regiment 
marched  to  Suffolk,  where  it  was  mustered  in 
for  a  second  term  of  three  months.  During 
this  period  the  men  patrolled  and  protected 
the  debatable  land  lying  between  the  Weldon 
Railroad  and  the  city  of  Norfolk,  which  was 
menaced  by  rebel  troops.  The  force  with 
which  it  was  associated  was  small,  and  it  was 
constantly  employed  in  marching,  scouting, 
and  similar  services.  It  was  engaged  in  sev 
eral  skirmishes,  but  no  serious  attack  was 
made  during  its  enlistment. 

The  following  letters  from  Lieutenant-Col 
onel  Woodward  describe  the  incidents  of  his 
service.  His  father  was  still  living,  and  it  was 
to  him  that  most  of  the  letters  were  addressed. 

CAMP  NEAR  FORT  MCHENRY, 

BALTIMORE,  June  1st,  1862. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

We  arrived  at  this  locality  at  3  o'clock  yes 
terday  afternoon  after  a  most  tedious  trip  of 
twenty-two  hours.  The  train  was  exceedingly 


HARDSHIPS  OF  THE  SERVICE  57 

large  and  heavy,  and  slow  in  its  movements; 
but  so  very  brief  in  the  stops  at  the  various 
towns  that  the  men  were  afforded  no  oppor 
tunity  for  obtaining  anything  to  eat.  As  the 
last  meal  I  ate  was  Friday  morning's  break 
fast  I  was  terribly  used  up  Saturday  evening 
at  supper  time ;  in  fact,  so  much  so,  and  I  was 
suffering  so  from  neuralgia  in  my  head,  that 
the  Surgeon  took  military  possession  of  me  and 
sent  me  into  town  and  to  the  Eutaw  House 
as  "  unfit  for  service."  I  never  was  in  greater 
suffering  in  my  life  than  from  noon  until  mid 
night  yesterday,  when  I  got  to  sleep.  I  woke 
up  this  morning  feeling  almost  myself  again. 
Shortly  after  we  arrived  on  the  camping- 
ground,  (which  is  situated  just  outside  the 
fort,  on  very  low,  damp  ground,  almost  a 
swamp),  a  most  terrific  thunderstorm  came 
up,  before  the  men  had  any  opportunity  to 
pitch  a  tent.  Our  new  uniforms  were  in  a 
few  moments  wet  through.  We  were  fortu 
nate  in  finding  a  large  building  in  the  neigh 
borhood  vacant.  It  was  soon  filled  with  the 
Thirteenth  and  for  the  balance  of  the  night 
they  received  no  more  wetting  from  the  rain, 

8 


58  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

which  continued  to  fall  until  morning.  It  is 
now  raining  heavily,  but  the  tents  are  all  up 
and  we  can  keep  dry  if  not  comfortable.  To 
day  I  got  on  the  ground  at  nine  o'clock,  and, 
although  feeling  very  slim,  have  been  hard  at 
work  and  am  very  much  used  up  again,  but 
am  not  sick.  The  horse  Tanner  behaved  ad 
mirably  during  the  trip.  He  was  placed  in  a 
box-car  and  took  things  as  coolly  as  if  he  was 
accustomed  to  railroad  life.  When  we  arrived 
at  the  camp  ground  I  found  a  deserted  stable, 
put  him  in  it,  had  him  watered  and  fed,  and  I 
believe  he  passed  the  night  comfortably.  He 
is  very  much  admired  by  all.  .  .  .  Crowds  of 
the  citizens  who  made  acquaintances  in  the 
regiment  when  we  were  last  here  have  been 
up  to  renew  them,  and  they  will  strongly  urge 
upon  General  "Wool,  (who,  we  are  told,  is  to 
relieve  G-eneral  Dix  here),  to  retain  us  in  this 
department. 

HEADQUARTERS  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  N.  Y.  S.  M., 
CAMP  CRESCENT,  BALTIMORE,  June  5th,  1862. 

Midnight. 

I  have  just  been  awoke  from  a  sound  sleep. 
Find  an  order  from  headquarters  directing  the 


ON  THE  WAY  TO  SUFFOLK  59 

preparation  of  the  regiment  for  departure  to 
Fortress  Monroe.  As  the  Colonel  is  ill  I  have 
my  hands  full  and  cannot  write  more.  The 
orders  are  to  be  ready  to  start  at  12  M.  to 
morrow.  The  presence  of  so  many  troops 
there  will  render  it  a  very  uncomfortable  trip. 

ON  BOARD  U.  S.  TRANSPORT  BALLOON, 
HAMPTON  ROADS,  VA.,  June  7th,  1862. 

I  am  here  in  command  of  four  companies, 
A,  C,  F,  and  Gr,  in  this  little  North  Eiver 
steamer.  The  balance  of  the  regiment  is  be 
hind  us  some  ten  or  twelve  hours,  on  board 
the  steamer  Star.  We  left  Baltimore  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening  and  arrived  off  Fortress 
Monroe  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning.  I  went 
ahead  and  reported  to  General  Dix,  who  or 
dered  me  to  proceed  immediately  to  Suffolk. 
I  am  to  go  on  and  establish  a  post  there  be 
fore  the  arrival  of  the  balance  of  the  regiment. 
Whilst  I  write  we  are  on  the  passage  from  the 
Fortress  to  Norfolk,  where  we  shall  arrive  in 
an  hour  and  immediately  take  the  cars  for 
Suffolk.  The  Third  and  Fourth  New  York 
Volunteers  and  the  Thirteenth  and  Twenty- 


60  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

fifth  regiments  of  militia  are  to  be  stationed 
there.  Although  all  were  in  Baltimore  to 
gether  I  have  the  honor  of  having  first  re 
ported  at  the  Fortress,  and  I  intend  to  be  the 
first  on  the  ground. 

Landing  at  Fortress  Monroe  I  was  com 
pelled  to  pass  through  a  hospital  ship.  In  the 
very  first  cot  I  saw  John  Echalaz,  who  was  in 
Saturday's  fight  with  the  First  Regiment 
Chasseurs  and  lost  his  leg.  He  looks  very  ill. 
He  was  on  the  State  of  Maine  and  I  am  told 
will  be  taken  to  New  Haven. 

Getting  away  down  here  in  Secessia  is 
rather  more  than  we  bargained  for,  but  we 
must  make  the  best  of  it.  Most  of  the  men 
are  pleased,  but  some  of  the  officers  prefer  go 
ing  home  or  to  Washington.  The  arms  fur 
nished  are  not  good  for  anything,  and  as  it 
has  rained  ever  since  we  have  been  here  the 
drill  is  very  deficient. 

ON  BOARD  TRANSPORT  BALLOON, 
NORFOLK,  VA.,  June  8th,  1862. 

Immediately  the  boat  touched  the  dock  the 
Quartermaster  and  I  jumped  ashore  and  made 


AT  NOEFOLK  61 

our  way  to  the  custom  house,  which  is  used 
by  General  Viele  as  his  headquarters.  I  found 
him  and  reported  for  orders,  which  were  given 
me  to  proceed  at  once  to  Suffolk.  On  reach 
ing  the  boat  again  I  was  surprised  and  an 
noyed  to  find  that  the  Ordnance  Sergeant  had 
neglected  to  provide  me  with  a  single  round  of 
cartridges.  I  immediately  notified  the  Gen 
eral  of  the  fact,  which  caused  him  to  grumble. 
He  asked  me  to  go  on  without  it,  which  I 
promised  to  do,  but  he  afterwards  changed 
his  mind  and  we  are  now  awaiting  the  bal 
ance  of  the  regiment,  which  will  be  here  in 
a  few  hours,  when  we  shall  probably  go  ahead. 
What  remains  of  the  navy  yard  is  in  sight, 
and  Portsmouth,  opposite,  looks  like  a  peace 
ful  country  place.  In  fact,  there  is  nothing 
alarming  to  be  seen  in  any  direction.  My  or 
ders  are  so  strict  to  keep  all  my  men  on  board 
that  I  have  not  had  the  courage  to  go  ashore 
and  enjoy  a  privilege  denied  them.  I  can 
therefore  speak  only  of  what  was  to  be  seen 
in  the  few  squares  between  the  dock  and  the 
custom  house.  All  the  stores  appear  to  be 
closed,  except  a  few  small  retail  concerns,  and 


62  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

the  place  looks  as  deserted  as  can  be  ima 
gined.  The  Union  feeling  exists  only  in  ho 
meopathic  cases  and  they  are  as  yet  afraid  to 
come  out  squarely  and  say  what  they  mean. 
Take  a  walk  on  Front  or  Water  Street,  New 
York,  on  a  Sunday,  and  you  have  an  exact 
idea  of  what  Norfolk  appears  to  be.  The  few 
women  who  remain  pull  their  dresses  aside 
and  avoid  a  uniform  as  they  would  a  pot 
of  tar.  Our  orders  are  extremely  rigorous 
against  entering  houses  uninvited,  or  taking 
any  article,  however  small,  without  payment. 
Either  will  be  punished  by  the  arrest  of  the 
Captain  of  the  company  of  which  the  offender 
is  a  member  and  the  confinement  of  the  man  at 
the  Rip-Raps.  On  our  passage  up  the  Eliza 
beth  River  we  found  forces  busily  engaged  in 
blowing  the  enemy's  earthworks  to  pieces. 
The  reports  are  frequent  and  very  heavy. 
...  It  is  hard  work  to  get  change  here  with 
out  taking  a  lot  of  shinplasters,  and  a  good 
many  dollars  are  now  in  the  mail  on  the  way 
home  as  curiosities.  I  have  threatened  to  ar 
rest  any  one  who  sends  any  more,  as  it  is  aid 
ing  and  abetting  the  rebellion.  .  .  .  Our  offi- 


A  POOELY  PICKETED  CAMP  63 

cers*  mess  costs  like  blazes  in  this  place,  as 
you  will  see  by  the  bill  for  our  breakfast  to 
day.  Ham  fifteen  cents  per  pound,  eggs 
twenty-five  cents  per  pound,  butter  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  cheese  eigh 
teen  cents  per  pound,  radishes  five  cents  per 
bunch,  lemons  one  shilling  each,  ice  one  dollar 
per  hundredweight.  Milk  we  cannot  get. 

HEADQUARTERS  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  N.  G.  N.  Y. , 
CAMP  CROOKE,  SUFFOLK,  VA.,  June  10th,  1862. 

I  send  enclosed  a  sketch  of  the  positions  of 
the  pickets  as  I  found  them  posted.  It  will 
show  you  what  a  beautiful  muss  the  place  is 
in.  Three  or  four  avenues  of  approach  which 
are  not  laid  down  are  entirely  unguarded. 
The  sketch  and  report  have  scared  General 
Max  Webber,  and  he  has  just  left  the  camp 
with  the  new  officer  of  the  day,  Major  Abel 
Smith,  Jr.,  for  the  purpose  of  rearranging  and 
posting  anew  the  outposts  and  picket  stations. 
Any  child  would  have  done  better  than  Col 
onel  ,  who  has  been  in  command 

Suffolk  is  the  meanest  God-forsaken  place 
you  ever  saw  —  houses  deserted,  stores  shut 


64  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

up,  darkies,  hounds,  and  poor  white  trash  be 
ing  the  only  objects  seen.  Those  having  any 
thing  to  sell  refuse  entirely,  or,  perhaps,  will 
consent  to  let  you  have  a  little  if  you  will  pay 
in  Confederate  shinplasters  or  silver ;  and  as  I 
have  not  either  I  find  hard  work  to  get  the 
necessities  of  life.  The  country  around  is  ex 
tremely  level  and  low.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  wind 
ing  up  of  the  Dismal  Swamp.  Under  our  tent 
floor  we  have  a  well  with  plenty  of  milk-col 
ored  water  which  tastes  very  good  and  is 
reached  by  digging  about  eighteen  inches. 
During  the  heavy  rains,  which  have  lasted  now 
two  days,  all  the  water  appears  to  lie  on  top  of 
the  ground,  but  it  disappears  mysteriously  the 
moment  the  sun  shines.  Two  hours  ago  the 
mud  was  three  inches  deep,  now  it  is  almost 
dusty.  General  Webber  told  me  this  morning 
that  he  had  news  of  the  capture  of  Memphis 
and  the  total  clearance  of  the  Mississippi 
River  of  rebel  gunboats.  I  have  just  written 
an  order  to  be  read  to  the  men  at  evening  pa 
rade  announcing  the  fact.  Glory  enough  for 
one  day.  This  news  will  have  an  inspiring 
effect  here. 


DISCOMFORTS  OF  CAMP  LIFE  65 

HEADQUARTERS  THIRTEENTH  REGIMENT  N.  G.  N.  Y. , 
CAMP  CROOKE,  SUFFOLK,  VA.,  Sunday,  June  15th,  1862. 

Since  the  day  when  I  was  on  duty 

as  field  officer  we  have  been  exempt  from  rain, 
but  have  been  almost  burned  up  with  the  heat, 
which  is  intense  during  the  day  notwithstand 
ing  a  constant  westerly  breeze. 

The  two  great  discomforts  of  our  camp  life 
are  the  impossibility  of  securing  supplies  for 
our  mess,  and,  second,  the  insect  world,  wood- 
ticks,  flies,  and  mosquitos.  The  inhabitants 
of  Suffolk  will  not  sell  anything  for  a  Union 
officer  to  eat.  Our  men  are  treated  precisely 
the  same  as  if  they  were  in  Baltimore  or  New 
York,  the  Quartermaster's  stores  being  here  in 
full  supply.  We  have  been  obliged  to  sponge 
on  the  men.  Yesterday  six  of  us  made  a 
breakfast  from  two  small  spring  chickens  and 
hardtack,  nothing  for  dinner,  bread  and  mo 
lasses  for  supper.  This  morning  a  red  herring 
apiece,  coffee,  and  hardtack ;  for  dinner  mush 
and  molasses.  What  supper  time  will  bring  I 
cannot  say ;  but  as  our  sutler  has  just  arrived 
and  is  carting  his  stores  upon  the  ground  I 
have  hopes  of  filling  up  on  something  or 
9 


66  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

other.  The  insect  world  we  fight  during  the 
day  with  both  hands  and  a  handkerchief.  At 
night  I  fix  them  by  wearing  an  arrangement 
some  Yankee  has  invented.  It  is  made  of  mos 
quito  netting  in  the  shape  of  a  feed-bag  kept 
distended  by  whalebone  rings.  When  you  lie 
down  the  rings  keep  the  netting  three  or  four 
inches  from  your  face.  I  found  I  could  not  do 
without  one  of  these  contrivances.  The  wood- 
ticks,  however,  are  not  to  be  baffled.  We 
have  to  pick  them  out  on  the  point  of  a  knife 
whenever  we  find  them  upon  us.  The  wounds 
are  far  more  uncomfortable  than  the  lumps 
caused  by  the  pigeon-sized  mosquitos  which 
the  Dismal  Swamp  supplies  us. 

Our  Chaplain  proves  a  very  good  fellow; 
smokes  a  cigar  but  prefers  a  pipe,  is  fond  of 
a  joke,  tells  a  good  story,  knows  how  to  laugh, 
does  n't  grumble  or  get  in  the  way,  attends  to 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  men,  and  does  n't 
annoy  us  with  advice  upon  temporal  affairs. 
He  has  found  a  contraband  and  is  indus 
triously  laboring  to  improve  and  educate  him. 
Has  succeeded  in  driving  ten  or  twelve  letters 
of  the  alphabet  into  his  head  but  cannot  teach 


THE  CHAPLAIN  AND  HIS  DAEKY  67 

him  to  be  frugal  and  to  eat  the  crusts  of  the 
slices  of  bread  he  has  for  dinner.  He  has  con 
cluded  that  to  own  thirty  or  forty  slaves  must 
be  a  terrible  task.  I  am  sure  the  darky  is 
disgusted  with  the  Chaplain,  and  I  rather  sus 
pect  the  feeling  is  becoming  mutual I 

very  much  fear  the  work  which  to-morrow  is 
to  give  us,  as  the  regiment  is  then  to  be  sworn 
into  service.  Had  this  formality  been  gone 
through  at  Brooklyn  or  at  Baltimore  all  would 
have  been  well ;  but  now  some  of  the  officers, 
whose  hearts  ought  to  have  been  put  in 
chickens'  breasts,  intend  to  back  down  and 
refuse  to  swear  in,  giving  as  a  reason  that  they 
enlisted  and  left  home  to  do  garrison  duty  and 
not  to  fight,  to  play  soldier  at  Washington  or 
Baltimore  but  not  to  do  soldier's  work  and 
share  a  soldier's  danger  at  Suffolk  or  anywhere 
else  in  any  place  where  an  enemy  could  by  any 
possibility  be  scared  up.  Well,  we  will  let  them 
go  their  own  way,  as  Captain  Russell  did  the 
deacons,  hoping  Brooklyn,  like  this  camp,  may 
prove  too  warm  for  their  comfort.  Besides 
these,  the  Surgeon  refuses  to  accept  some  fifty 
or  sixty  who  had  enlisted,  on  account  of  their 


68  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

having  permanent  disabilities.  These  have  to 
go,  willingly  or  not.  Trouble  will  arise  in  ex 
pelling  them  from  the  camp  and  forcing  them 
to  get  on  the  train.  The  slinks  we  will  have 
trouble  with,  as  we  intend  to  send  them  away 
in  disgrace ;  but  when  we  do  get  rid  of  them 
we  shall  have  very  healthy  and  brave  men  — 
far  better  material  than  any  other  regiment  in 
the  service  —  and  probably  six  hundred  and 

fifty  of  them General  Mansfield  has 

arrived  and  taken  command.  He  is  one  of  the 
nicest  old  gentlemen  I  have  met  in  military 
life.  He  is  exceedingly  good  to  us  and  very 
approachable.  G-eneral  Webber,  in  whose  bri 
gade  we  are,  is  said  to  be  a  good  and  brave 
officer.  His  Assistant- Adjutant-General,  Cap 
tain  ,  got  his  fingers  burned  by  me  the 

other  day  when  he  thought  a  militia  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  could  be  bossed  around  by  a  three- 
year  volunteer  Captain.  Found  out  his  mis 
take  and  is  now  decently  civil.  We  three- 
months  men  are  considered  poor  truck  and 
know-nothings,  but  so  far  we  have  beaten  the 
three-year  men  regularly  in  every  change  of 
location  and  are  always  first  at  brigade  guard- 


CONDITIONS  AND  PROSPECTS  69 

mounting.  We  were  smart  enough  to  get  our 
men  transferred  here  on  the  railroad.  They 
marched.  They  don't  like  it;  but  we  have 
got  them  on  the  hip,  and  if  we  ever  get  into  a 
scrimmage  I  do  hope  we  shall  finish  up  the 
only  remaining  matter  and  outfight  them. 

After  an  examination  of  the  country  and 
the  maps  I  am  convinced  that  there  will  be  no 
attempt  made  by  the  rebels  to  repossess  this 
place.  When  they  evacuated  Norfolk  they 
burned  and  destroyed  the  navy  yard;  along 
the  railroad,  even  thirty  miles  further  out 
than  where  we  are,  they  have  destroyed  the 
bridges ;  they  have  removed  a  couple  of  dams 
and  overflowed  a  piece  of  ground,  which  ren 
ders  our  defense  in  case  of  an  attack  from  that 
quarter  perfect ;  they  have  removed  their  rec 
ords  to  Danville,  N.  C.;  Burnside  has  made  ar 
rangements  to  march  to  Weldon,  which  is  on 
the  railroad  connected  with  us ;  and  I  cannot 
see  any  advantage  that  would  be  gained  for 
them  by  repossessing  Suffolk.  I  think  they 
have  abandoned  it  forever.  We  keep  our 
pickets  and  grand  guard  formed  and  instruct 
them  to  be  very  particular,  as  the  enemy  are 


70  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

only  five  or  ten  miles  away.  This  keeps  the 
men  active.  I  believe  there  is  no  force,  ex 
cept  guerrillas,  or  "  gorillas  "  as  we  call  them, 
within  thirty  miles.  We  have  plenty  of  false 
alarms  and  rumors.  At  three  o'clock  this 
morning  the  officer  of  the  guard  woke  me  up 
and  got  me  out  of  the  tent  in  a  terrible  hurry 
to  see  some  signals  which  were  being  made  by 
the  enemy.  It  proved  to  be  the  morning  star 
just  rising  over  the  woods,  and  owing  to  a 
haze  or  smoke  it  looked  as  the  moon  fre 
quently  does  when  rising,  exceedingly  large 
and  red.  The  man  was  positive  that  it  was  a 
fire  balloon  and  meant  something  of  advantage 
to  the  enemy.  The  night  before  the  officer  of 
the  picket  guard  hauled  me  two  miles  away  to 
the  outpost,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  as 
he  saw  parties  in  a  house  make  signals  with 
red  and  white  lights.  I  got  there,  woke  up 
the  family,  and  found  that  the  sickness  of  a 
little  child  had  caused  the  father  to  go  down 
stairs  three  times,  making  the  light  show  in 
the  windows  of  the  two  stories,  some  of  which 

had  a  sort  of  tan-colored  shade We 

drill  one  hour  before  breakfast,  by  squad,  one 


A  NIGHT  ALARM  71 

hour  and  a  half  after,  by  company,  and  two 
hours  in  the  evening,  by  battalion. 

The  really  active  service  of  the  regiment, 
and  the  reliance  which  General  Mansfield 
placed  in  its  efficiency,  are  evidenced  by  a 
hastily  written  autograph  note  of  that  Gen 
eral's  which  has  been  preserved  among  Gen 
eral  Woodward's  papers,  and  is  as  follows : 

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  WooDWABD,  Officer  Day : 
Please  investigate  that  matter  without  de 
lay.  I  have  a  mounted  rifle  company  on  the 
South  Quay  Road,  and  this  may  be  a  party 
mounted  to  cut  them  off. 

MANSFIELD,  B.  G.,  U.  S.  A. 

The  next  letter  from  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Woodward  is  from  Camp  Crooke,  Suffolk, 
where  the  regiment  was  still  located,  and  is 
dated 

11:15  P.  M.,  June  19th,  1862. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

I  have  this  moment  come  into  my  tent  from 
a  march  which  was  taken  to  ascertain  the 
cause  of  an  alarm  which  rooted  all  out  about 


72  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

an  hour  ago.  The  camp  was  as  quiet  as  if 
Nature  was  alone  and  soldiers  unheard  of. 
Most  of  us  had  turned  in,  but  few  were  asleep. 
Suddenly  we  heard  a  shot  fired  from  the  pick 
ets  we  have  stationed  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  out  on  the  road  which  runs  past  our 
camp;  then  another,  and  another,  until  some 
twenty  had  been  fired.  The  third  shot  got  us 
all  up.  The  drums  were  rolled,  the  men  rap 
idly  took  their  places  in  their  companies,  and 
our  regimental  line  was  formed.  All  this  al 
most  before  you  could  say  Jack  Robinson. 
No  confusion  or  scurry,  but  the  calm,  cool 
swiftness  which  betokens  men  who  appreciate 
what  is  required  of  them.  Immediately  after 
the  line  was  formed  bayonets  were  fixed, 
pieces  were  loaded,  and  we  stood  ready  for 
whatever  might  turn  up.  The  firing  had 
ceased  and  all  was  quiet;  still,  it  was  our 
duty  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the  alarm,  so  I 
took  Company  Gr,  (my  old  pets),  and  marched 
them  to  the  picket  station,  where  I  found  that 
one  of  the  guard  had  accidentally,  (as  he  first 
stated,  or  else  being  alarmed  at  something,  he 
did  not  know  what),  fired  his  piece.  Each  of 


FIRST  BATTALION  DRILL  73 

the  other  posts  also  fired  his  piece  for  the  pur 
pose  of  passing  the  alarm  in.  This  was  all. 
No  enemy,  no  danger,  and  our  pains  for  no 
thing.  Yet  I  do  not  regret  it,  for  it  has 
taught  me  that  we  have  a  very  reliable,  good 
set  of  men.  Better  order  or  a  better  sudden 
formation  could  not  be  had.  As  the  man  who 
fired  his  piece  prevaricated  I  arrested  him  and 
have  brought  him  into  camp  and  have  got 
him  under  guard.  Generals  Mansfield  and 
Webber  were  soon  upon  the  ground  and 
passed  a  well-deserved  compliment  to  our 
boys.  This  seems  a  small  matter  to  write 
about,  but  as  it  is  the  first  incident  of  the 
sort  in  the  campaign  I  think  it  worth  relat 
ing.  You  must  remember  that  we  are  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  secession  country,  that  a 
guerrilla  band  is  not  many  miles  away,  and 
the  cry  of  wolf  must  not  be  carelessly  heard. 
.  .  .  To-day  we  had  our  first  battalion  drill, 
Generals  Mansfield  and  Webber  being  present. 
The  regiment  really  did  well.  General  Mans 
field  requested  us  to  go  through  several  move 
ments.  He  expressed  much  surprise  at  the 
very  correct  performance  of  them,  and  we 
10 


74  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

now  stand  well  on  the  General's  books.  We 
beat  all  the  regiments  here  in  promptness  and 
correctness  of  our  official  business.  The  white 
feather  men  left  for  home  to-day.  Give  them 
a  scorching  reception. 

The  next  letter  from  Camp  Crooke  is  dated 
the  eighteenth  of  June,  and  is  addressed  to  a 
sister. 

DEAR  MARIA, 

I  am  very  glad  that  the  swearing  in 

is  over  and  that  so  few  men  have  left  us.  ... 
.  .  It  was  my  turn  yesterday  at  inspecting  the 
pickets,  or  being  field  officer  of  the  day,  so  I 
feel  pretty  nearly  used  up,  having  been  the 
round  three  times,  making  a  ride  of  nearly 
fifty  miles.  I  used  two  horses,  first  Tanner 
and  then  a  borrowed  one.  The  thermometer 
stood  at  about  ninety  and  the  sun  was  shining 
furiously.  I  cannot  say  the  ride  was  very 
agreeable.  The  place  where  we  are  encamped 
has  been  occupied  for  many  months  by  three 
or  four  rebel  regiments,  and  the  log  huts 
where  they  wintered  partly  remain,  notwith 
standing  the  conflagration  that  they  caused 


TANNEE  STARTS  FOE  DIXIE  75 

when  the  place  was  evacuated  some  three 
weeks  ago.  The  huts  must  have  been  very 
comfortable  and  are  quite  picturesque,  being 
very  neatly  made.  Some  of  them  have  win 
dows  and  very  nice  window-shades.  The  men 
are  continually  rooting  and  scraping  among  the 
rubbish  for  trophies.  One  succeeded  in  finding 
a  gold  watch,  another  a  pistol.  These  instances 
of  luck,  however,  are  rare,  the  principal  articles 

found  being  buttons. 

June  23d,  1862. 

I  have  not  yet  allowed  two  days  to  pass 

without  writing  to  someone  at  home 

Tanner  is  improving  as  a  saddle-horse.  Last 
night  he  broke  loose  in  his  stable,  knocked  the 
door  down,  and  left  for  Dixie.  He  was  caught 
by  the  outside  pickets,  after  being  nearly  shot, 
as  he  refused  to  halt  when  challenged.  I  did 
not  miss  him  until  seven  o'clock,  and  was,  of 
course,  in  much  tribulation  until  the  picket, 
who  recognized  him,  brought  him  into  camp. 

I  have  eaten  onions  in  as  liberal  a 

manner  as  my  exchequer  will  permit.  Six 
cents  each  comes  too  high,  except  for  luxuries. 
Vegetables  of  all  sorts  are  always  in  short  sup- 


76  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ply  here.  The  people  are  too  lazy  to  raise 
them,  and  don't  appear  to  care  much  for  them. 
My  health  has  been  capital  since  coming  upon 
this  ground.  I  think  it  is  owing  much  to  the 
coolness  of  the  evenings,  so  that  I  am  enabled 
to  sleep  soundly.  I  cannot  remember  when  I 
have  slept  so  well  from  tattoo  to  reveille  every 
night.  I  prefer  the  mosquitos  to  pennyroyal, 
so  I  sleep  through  their  attacks  at  night  and 
they  never  raise  itching  spots  on  my  flesh. 
To-day  I  have  been  on  duty  again  as  field  offi 
cer  of  the  day  and  I  have  had  quite  an  uncom 
fortable  time.  The  morning  opened  very  hot. 
Horse  and  self  perspired  remarkably  freely. 
At  noon  the  clouds  began  to  gather,  and  at 
1  p.  M.  I  reached  my  tent,  (after  a  rapid  ride 
through  a  piece  of  woods,  where  I  had  to  fol 
low  a  footpath,  the  branches  of  the  trees 
scratching  me  badly),  just  in  time  to  escape 
a  terrible  drenching.  This  afternoon  it  was 
very  pleasant  and  I  enjoyed  my  rounds  very 
much. 

July  25th,  1862. 

Still  here  and  all  quiet  along  the  line  of  the 
Nansemond I  received  an  order  yes- 


MEMBER  OF  A  COURT-MARTIAL  77 

terday  detailing  the  Colonel  and  myself  as 
members  of  a  court  martial  to  try  the  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  and  Major  of  the  Fourth  New 

York  Volunteers My  health  remains 

first  rate,  but  I  am  very  tired,  as,  owing  to  the 
absence  of  two,  and  the  sickness  of  two  other, 
field  officers,  I  have  been  on  duty  forty-eight 
out  of  the  last  seventy-two  hours. 

July  5th,  1862. 

Last  year,  you  will  remember,  I 

spent  the  glorious  Fourth  in  the  city  jail  of 
Baltimore.  Yesterday  I  sat  from  nine  to  three 
on  my  three-legged  stool  in  the  court  room. 
The  scene  is  shifted  but  the  connection  re 
mains.  The  second  act  was  played  before  the 
first.  I  did  not  hear  a  solitary  firecracker.  I 
shall  forget  what  the  Fourth  of  July  is  if  an 
other  year  finds  me  suppressing  the  rebellion. 

We  are  all  very  anxious  for  news 

from  the  Peninsula.  We  hear  rumors  daily, 
but  our  newspapers,  the  only  means  of  infor 
mation,  are  two  days  old  when  they  reach  us, 
and  that  is  a  long  time  in  this  age  of  steam 
and  telegraph.  I  saw  General  Webber  this 


78  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

morning  and  asked  if  the  news  was  better. 
"Veil,  I  shall  hope  to  tell  you  somedings  by 
und  by.  Yat  I  tell  you  now  is  not  much 
happy."  The  troops  prefer  Webber  to  Mans 
field,  as  the  former  is  a  very  fine-looking  man 
and  is  much  more  with  us.  They  judge  by 
Mansfield's  white  head  and  beard  that  he  is 
too  old-fogy.  For  my  part  I  like  the  "  old  un  w 
best.  I  am  on  good  terms  with  him  and  we 
often  teach  each  other  something  about  mili 
tary  matters. 

July  6th,  1862. 

To-day  is  Sunday,  and  although  it  is  said, 
and  with  some  truth,  that  a  soldier  does  not 
know  one  day  from  another,  yet  I  am  sure  no 
one  could  look  into  this  camp  without  being 
impressed  with  the  extra  quiet.  The  clean 
boots  and  shirts  and  neatly  brushed  clothes, 
the  very  demeanor  of  the  men,  prove  that  all 
do  know,  and  endeavor  to  show  by  the  pro 
priety  of  their  conduct  that  they  honor,  the 
day.  It  is  one  of  the  best  evidences  of  the 
fine  class  of  men  we  have,  and  that  the  home 
influence  still  surrounds  them. 


TANNER  UNDER  FIRE  79 

July  8th,  1862. 

Whew !  We  have  got  it  now.  Imagine  the 
hottest  day  you  ever  saw  and  then  fry  it  and 
you  will  approximate  the  heat  we  endured 
yesterday  and  are  enduring  to-day.  Yester 
day  it  marked  in  a  cool  place  105°,  and  no 
breeze.  At  half -past  six  we  commenced  bat 
talion  drill,  which  had  been  postponed  from 
four  o'clock.  In  ten  minutes  five  men  had 
fainted  and  been  carried  off,  so  I  sent  the 
regiment  all  to  their  quarters.  We  shall  not 
try  it  again  until  the  weather  moderates.  I 
shall,  however,  take  advantage  of  the  fine 
moonlight  now  in  season.  .  .  .  Our  regiment 
is  practised  daily  now  at  target  shooting.  I 
wanted  to  try  Tanner  under  fire.  Find  he 
takes  it  as  quietly  as  slapping  your  hands. 
To-day  I  took  him  out  when  the  artillery  was 
at  work  firing  blank  cartridges;  rode  him 
within  ten  feet  of  a  gun  when  it  was  being 
fired ;  after  three  discharges  he  took  it  calmly; 
let  the  reins  fall  over  his  neck  and  the  only 
notice  he  took  was  to  prick  up  his  ears;  did 
not  move  his  feet.  So,  if  we  do  get  in  action 
I  hardly  think  it  will  be  necessary  to  pay  any 


80  JOHN  B.  WOODWAKD 

attention  to  him.  I  practise  him  daily  in 
jumping  ditches,  and  will  shortly  try  fences. 
Yesterday  I  jumped  a  ditch  eight  feet  wide, 
from  a  halt,  which  is  doing  pretty  well.  He 
does  not  like  that  kind  of  work  but  spurs  are 

good  coaxers. 

July  16th,  1862. 

.  .  .  Monday  the  14th  I  was  on  duty  as 
field  officer  of  the  day.  Every  time  I  am 
mounted  on  a  "sissing"  hot  day  I  think  I 
would  suffer  less  with  the  heat  if  I  were  on 
foot.  When  I  am  on  foot  I  prefer  to  be 
mounted.  I  have  not  made  up  my  mind 
which  is  the  cooler  mode  of  locomotion.  I 
made  the  rounds  five  times  and  was  in  the 
saddle  all  night.  Yesterday  I  was  not  worth 
a  rap,  the  exertion  having  used  me  all  up. 
My  tent,  being  peculiarly  pitched,  is  regarded 
as  a  cool  place,  so  my  friends,  who  are  numer 
ous,  desire  to  share  its  shade.  I  was  also 
called  upon  to  entertain  four  officers  from  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  That  night  I  slept 
forty  knots  an  hour  and  this  morning  awoke 
feeling  like  a  lark.  I  expected  a  cool,  com 
fortable  day  would  follow  such  a  storm  as  we 


HOT  WORK  81 

had  last  night,  but  instead  of  cooling  it  ap 
pears  to  have  heightened  the  temperature. 
Troubles  never  come  singly  and  to-day  we 
were  ordered  to  the  first  of  our  brigade  drills. 
We  left  the  camp  at  four  o'clock,  the  field 
officers  being  mounted.  The  brigade  drill 
ground  is  a  most  beautiful  one,  being  an  ob 
long  of  some  eight  hundred  by  twelve  hun 
dred  paces,  formerly  cultivated  as  a  corn-field. 
We  chose  to  go  across  country  and  it  was 
quite  amusing  to  see  the  regiment  moving 
in  regular  order  over  ditches,  fences,  &c.  I 
jumped  the  obstacles  and  am  getting  to  be  an 
expert  at  the  business.  We  arrived  first  upon 
the  ground  but  were  soon  followed  by  the  bal 
ance  of  the  brigade.  The  line  was  formed  and 
the  drill  commenced.  The  heat  was  intense 
and  the  men  of  the  Third,  Fourth,  and 
Twenty-fifth  regiments  fell  like  sheep,  and 
the  drum  corps  were  kept  busy  carrying  them 
off.  Our  boys  stood  it  wonderfully  and  we 
did  not  lose  more  than  a  dozen.  The  Third 
must  have  had  eighty  to  a  hundred  lying  in 
the  shade  of  the  fence.  Colonel  Bryan  of 
the  Twenty-fifth  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mc- 
11 


82  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Gregor  of  the  Third  both  came  tumbling  from 
their  horses,  and  twice  I  was  so  much  over 
come  as  to  be  unable  to  see  Tanner's  ears,  but 
my  will  was  too  strong  for  the  flesh  and  I  got 
through,  not  without  considerable  suffering. 
Major  Boyd  being  too  sick  to  go  to  the  drill  I 
had  double  duty  and  my  poor  horse  looked  as 
if  he  had  been  ducked  in  the  river. 

General  Max  Webber  is  a  splendid  officer 
and  handled  the  brigade  beautifully,  the  only 
drawback  being  that  his  orders  are  occasion 
ally  not  quite  clear,  owing  to  his  peculiar  pro 
nunciation  of  the  words.  He  understands 
English  perfectly.  He  is  like  Stutzer,  never 
gets  the  cart  before  the  horse.  He  kept  us  at 
it  until  six  o'clock,  when,  becoming  overpow 
ered  by  the  heat  himself,  we  were  dismissed. 
...  I  have  applications  daily  for  passes  by 
men  who  want  to  get  specimens  of  bugs  and 
such  things  for  me.  Yesterday  a  very  bright 
looking  boy  came  and  I  gave  him  a  pass.  He 
returned  in  a  couple  of  hours  with  a  basket 
which  he  had  ingeniously  made  by  cutting  the 
bark  of  a  tree  clear  around  and  putting  in  a 
bottom.  He  then  filled  it  with  blackberries, 


RUMORS  CAUSE  LUMBAGO  83 

which  he  handed  to  me,  saying,  "Colonel, 
them's  better  than  derned  nasty  bugs  and 
lizards."  I  agree  exactly  with  him,  and  that 
youth  can  have  a  pass  as  long  as  the  berries 
last. 

July  19th,  1862. 

In  a  stroll   through   the  adjacent 

woods,  fields,  and  swamps  I  found  to-day  two 
flowers,  in  great  abundance,  and  the  long  reed 
or  cane  which  is  used  for  fishing-poles.  I  en 
close  a  flower,  and  regret  my  envelope  will 
not  hold  a  fine  pole  which  I  cut.  It  must  be 
twenty  feet  long. 

July  22d,  1862. 

Eumors  are  still  flying  around  and  the  "  old 
grannies  "  are  trembling,  and  their  "  lumbago  " 
is  suddenly  worse,  on  account  of  a  statement 
that  a  cavalry  force  of  three  hundred  which 
went  out  yesterday  on  a  reconnoissance  have 
sent  in  for  reinforcements  and  that  they  have 
discovered  a  force  of  five  thousand  rebels  on 
the  Blackwater,  a  river  twenty  miles  distant. 
As  nothing  is  known  of  the  matter  at  head 
quarters  perhaps  we  may  live  through  the 
night  safely Our  sick  men  still  hang 


84  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

on  without  any  material  change.  The  health 
of  the  camp  remains  excellent.  The  First 
Delaware  has  ninety-six  men  in  hospital. 
They  have  buried  four.  We  have  only  six 
sick.  I  cannot  account  for  this  great  discrep 
ancy  unless  the  explanation  is  found  in  an  ap 
ple  orchard  which  is  along  side  of  their  camp. 

July  28th,  1862. 

Last  night  the  Colonel  and  I  took 

a  ride.  I  beat  him  all  to  thunder.  Tanner 
has  not  stumbled  for  a  long  time  now  and  I 
am  in  hopes  he  has  forgotten  how.  Saturday 
I  was  riding  in  company  with  Major  Abel 
Smith,  Jr.,  who  rides  a  magnificent  Ethan 
Allen  stallion,  Monarque.  Of  course  we  had 
a  trial  of  speed,  and  if  you  could  have  seen 
us  tear  down  the  ravine,  over  stumps,  stones, 
and  briers,  you,  like  myself,  would  have  had 
serious  doubts  of  the  safety  of  your  first  son's 
neck  and  his  horse's  knees.  At  a  recent  bri 
gade  drill  we  were  exercised  in  volley  and  file 
firing,  using  ball  cartridges.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  which  excites  horses  so  much  as 
the  latter,  and  it  was  truly  gay.  Every  horse 


BRUTAL  GUERRILLAS  85 

on  the  field  was  up  and  doing,  and  Tanner  be 
ing  very  powerful,  I,  of  course,  had  my  hands 
full.  Colonel  McGregor's  horse  took  him  clear 
off  the  field.  Mine  I  managed  to  keep  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  regiment,  but  it  took 
both  hands,  spurs,  and  curb  to  do  it.  We  had 
a  good  deal  of  fun.  The  volley  firing  they  did 
not  object  to  so  much. 

August  1st,  1862. 

The    rumors    in    the    papers    of 

"probable  attack"  on  this  place  are,  I  think, 
without  foundation.  Contrabands  report  a 
large  force  at  Petersburg  and  some  few  troops 
nearer  this  way.  No  force  exists  this  side  of 
the  Black  water,  and  there  are  only  some  nine 
hundred  there.  Guerrillas  are  seen  almost 
daily  and  every  now  and  then  one  is  caught 
and  brought  in.  They  constitute  a  sort  of  in 
dependent  picket  and  convey  from  house  to 
house  tidings  of  any  unusual  movement  here. 
They  also  stop  rebel  deserters  and  contra 
bands  from  coming  in.  Their  actions  are  a 
disgrace  to  humanity.  A  party  of  our  cavalry 
while  out  scouting  stopped  recently  at  the 
farm  of  an  old  gentleman  and  he  allowed  them 


86  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

to  water  their  horses  at  his  well  and  gave  the 
officers  and  men  a  good  lunch.  For  this  he 
was  caught  and  killed  by  the  Nansemond  cav 
alry.  The  brutes  cut  off  his  ears  and  both 
hands  as  trophies  and  nailed  them  to  the  gate 
posts I  always  get  father's  birthday 

wrong;  and  on  that  day  we  made  a  toast  to 
him  at  the  midnight  relief. 

We  have  several  very  sick  and  the  weather 
is  too  warm  for  them.  Dodge,  the  hospital 
steward,  died,  and  was  buried  night  before 
last.  We  put  him  in  the  same  ground  used 
by  the  Secession  regiments.  It  was  the  most 
impressive  funeral  I  ever  attended.  The  grove 
consists  of  large  pine-trees,  very  dense.  The 
regiment  was  formed  in  hollow  square,  four 
ranks  around  the  grave.  Everything  was 
still  as  death,  except  the  Dead  March,  and 
the  Chaplain  was  very  solemn  in  his  remarks. 
Captain  Briggs  goes  home  to-day  on  sick 
leave.  I  fear  he  will  never  come  back.  Five 
or  six  men  are  to  be  discharged  to-morrow  for 
disability.  We  are,  however,  better  off  than 
any  other  regiment  here,  as  we  pay  the  strict 
est  attention  to  the  cleanliness  of  the  tents 


EMERGENCY  DRILL  87 

and  their  ventilation.  To-morrow  if  the 
weather  is  fair  every  tent  on  the  field  will  be 
down,  the  floors  taken  out,  rubbish  removed, 
and  the  tents  again  put  up. 

I  am  the  field  officer  of  the  day  again. 
A  brigade  drill  ordered  for  this  afternoon. 
Major  Boyd  too  sick  to  assist  me.  Captain 
Thorne  has  on  the  last  two  occasions  taken 
Boyd's  place.  If  he  were  not  here  I  don't 
know  how  I  could  get  along. 


August  3d,  1862. 

It  is  now  half-past  eleven,  but  as  I  am  to 
have  the  regiment  under  arms  at  half-past 
two  in  the  morning  I  think  I  will  make  a 
night  of  it.  I  feel  a  little  nervous  and  have 
tried  in  vain  to  get  to  sleep.  The  General  has 
ordered  me  not  to  tell  a  single  soul  in  the 
regiment  that  they  are  to  come  out  at  that 
hour;  and  as  he  will  see  for  himself  how 
prompt  we  can  be  in  an  emergency  I  want 
the  men  to  move  on  a  little  more  than  double 
quick. 

(August    4th.)     The    line    was    formed    in 


88  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

seven  minutes  and  the  square  in  four  more. 
No  drums  beaten  nor  any  noise  made. 

There  are  some  apprehensions  that  this 
place  is  to  be  attacked  very  shortly,  and  "  Old 
Woman sfield,"  as  our  men  call  him,  has  been 
digging  rifle-pits,  building  chevaux-de-frise, 
erecting  stockades  and  many  other  military 
devices  to  give  the  fellows  fits  if  they  should 
come,  which  to  my  mind  is  very  far  from 
probable.  The  old  General  is  very  pious,  for 
a  general,  and  says  tut!  tut!  when  any  one 
swears  in  his  hearing.  Talking  to  me  to-day 
he  said,  "Now,  I  suppose  if  three  hundred  or 
four  hundred  cavalry  should  come  in  they 
would  cut  you  and  the  Twenty-fifth  all  to 
pieces."  You  can  guess  my  reply,  for  he 
said,  "  Tut !  tut ! "  He  can  suppose  as  much 
as  he  pleases,  but  I  '11  be  d — arned  if  they 
would. 

August  14th,  1862. 

.  .  .  You  will  have  heard,  probably,  of  the 
death  of  Corporal  Holt  of  E  Company.  They 
call  it  a  melancholy  accident.  I  call  it  gross 
carelessness.  He  was  a  member  of  picket 
guard  No.  2,  posted  on  the  railroad.  Their 


A  MELANCHOLY  EVENT  89 

guard  had  been  relieved  and  were  coming 
into  camp,  marching  down  the  track.  Grand 
guard  No.  1  of  the  Fourth  New  York  Volun 
teers  had  also  been  relieved  and  were  coming 
towards  our  camp  on  the  mill  bridge  road. 
When  nearly  up  to  the  camp  the  officer  of  the 
grand  guard  halted  his  men,  faced  them  to 
ward  the  railroad  track,  and  they  discharged 
their  pieces  by  volley.  The  bullets  flew  di 
rectly  into  our  picket.  Poor  Gruy  was  the 
only  one  struck.  The  escape  of  the  others  is 
simply  miraculous.  ...  As  usual  in  such 
cases  the  victim  was  one  of  the  very  best  sol 
diers  in  the  regiment  and  I  presume  more 
generally  known  throughout  than  any  other. 
He  is  the  son  of  old  Mr.  Holt,  ("Father 
Holt"),  whom  I  think  you  have  seen  playing 
baseball. 

August  18th,  1862. 

.  .  .  You  will,  perhaps,  have  heard  of  the 
anticipated  attack  on  this  town  last  Friday, 
and  as  the  matter  may  be  magnified  in  some 
accounts  I  think  it  proper  that  you  should 
know  it  was  a  very  small  affair.  On  that  day 

I  was  field  officer,  and  at  twelve  o'clock,  noon, 
12 


90  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

the  sergeant  of  cavalry  picket  No.  2  rode 
hastily  to  my  quarters  and  said  that  informa 
tion  had  been  received  through  contrabands 
coming  in  that  a  large  force  of  cavalry  and 
infantry  were  coming  upon  us.  It  being  my 
duty  to  attend  to  such  matters  I  immediately 
mounted  and  rode  out  to  the  picket,  found 
other  contrabands  coming  in,  all  of  whom  told 
the  same  story,  with  the  exception  that  it  was 
all  cavalry.  By  and  by  the  cavalry  dwindled 
down  from  one  thousand  to  four  hundred, 
which  latter  number  is  about  correct.  I  noti 
fied  Generals  Mansfield  and  Webber  and  in 
company  with  the  latter  made  a  reconnois- 
sance  some  distance  beyond  the  pickets.  The 
conclusion  that  we  arrived  at  was  that  the 
Nansemond  cavalry  had  come  from  where 
they  are  encamped,  (the  Blackwater),  for  the 
purpose  of  endeavoring  to  cut  off  two  of  our 
cavalry  companies  who  had  been  sent  out 
scouting  the  evening  previous.  Fortunately 
the  rebels  were  unsuccessful  in  their  en 
deavor.  G-eneral  Mansfield  sent  all  the  cav 
alry  in  the  place  after  them,  but  they  heard 
of  it  and  skedaddled.  To-day  we  have  an- 


ANOTHER  ALAEM  IN  CAMP  91 

other  rumor  of  intended  attack,  but  I  have  no 
idea  that  there  is  any  foundation  for  it. 

August  24th,  1862. 

Another  alarm  was  caused  last  Tuesday  by 
the  reappearance  of  the  Nansemond  cavalry, 
who  came  near  our  picket  lines  but  made  no 
other  demonstration.  I  was  again  officer  of 
the  day  and  tried  hard  to  overtake  and  corner 
them,  but  without  success.  As  every  alarm 
has  occurred  on  a  day  that  I  have  been  field 
officer  they  have  got  the  joke  fastened  on  me. 
My  turn  comes  again  on  Tuesday  next  and 
I  look  for  another  fruitless  tear  around  the 
country. 

In  another  letter,  written  about  the  time  of 
the  preceding,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Woodward 
said: 

Our  men  are  now  beginning  to  feel  some 
confidence  in  themselves,  and,  I  hope,  in  their 
officers.  I  never  worked  harder  to  win  the 
good  opinion  of  men.  I  think  I  have  in  a 
measure  succeeded,  but,  being  a  disciplina 
rian,  I  have  no  doubt  many  have  got  their 


92  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

backs  up  a  little.  Generals  Webber  and  Mans 
field  were  both  at  the  drill  last  evening.  I 
was  in  command.  Mansfield  was  desirous  of 
testing  me  to  see  if  I  knew  my  business,  and 
ordered  me  to  perform  certain  inversion  move 
ments,  (inversion  means  to  do  a  movement, 
as  you  would  say,  the  other  side  up),  which 
are  exceedingly  intricate ;  but  being  aware  of 
the  General's  fondness  for  those  movements 
I  have  recently  made  myself  familiar  with 
them.  We  did  them,  and  in  really  "bully" 
style.  General  Mansfield  complimented  us 
highly  and  we  have  become  his  special  pets. 
Of  course  we  felt  good.  I  tell  you  the  Thir 
teenth  are  just  gay. 

August  27th,  1862. 

...  As  yet  we  are  in  complete  ignorance 
as  to  our  future  movements.  To-day  the  regi 
ment  received  one  month's  pay  and  we  were 
told  that  an  order  would  follow  immediately 
for  us  to  break  camp  and  start  for  home,  in 
stead  of  which  we  have  received  one  to  "  pre 
pare  rolls  for  muster  and  pay  "  on  Sunday,  but 
as  that  is  one  of  the  routine  duties  no  signifi- 


PAID  OFF  AND  SENT  HOME  93 

cance  is  to  be  attached  to  it.  We  have  a  ru 
mor  to-day  that  ten  regiments  are  to  arrive 
here  shortly  and  that  upon  their  arrival  we 
are  to  leave.  So  you  see  we  are,  as  we  doubt 
less  should  be,  quite  in  the  dark.  Our  time 
expires  to-morrow  noon.  .  .  .  Paying  off  has, 
of  course,  given  us  a  lively  time  to-day,  but 
the  boys  don't  know  what  to  do  with  their 
greenbacks.  I  got  $200.10,  and  although  paid 
early  this  morning  I  have  it  all  yet.  The  men 
got  $13  each — not  as  much  as  they  were  en 
titled  to,  but  the  Paymaster  said  he  was  told 
to  pay  them  "  enough  to  pay  their  debts  to  the 
niggers." 

The  regiment  remained  at  Suffolk  the  time 
for  which  it  was  summoned  and  for  which  it 
was  mustered  in.  Being  then  ordered  back  to 
Brooklyn  the  troops  left  Suffolk  by  a  small 
steamer  for  Fortress  Monroe,  where  they  re- 
embarked  on  the  steamer  Baltic  together  with 
the  Twenty-fifth  Regiment  K  Y.  State  Mili 
tia.  Directly  the  troops  were  on  board  the 
steamer  started,  but  during  the  afternoon  she 
struck  on  Chincoteague  Shoals,  where  she 


94  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

lay  hard  aground  for  thirty-six  hours.  Dur 
ing  the  first  night  a  heavy  storm  came  up  and 
the  severe  pounding  upon  the  bottom  caused 
the  ship  to  spring  a  leak.  All  hands  set  to 
work  heaving  coal  overboard  and  working  the 
pumps.  The  next  afternoon  several  schooners 
came  to  the  rescue  and  all  the  men  were  given 
the  opportunity  of  leaving  the  steamer.  The 
Twenty-fifth  Eegiment  took  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  together  with  some  of  the  Thir 
teenth,  but  most  of  the  Brooklyn  regiment 
stuck  by  the  Baltic,  and  of  Company  Gr  only 
one  man  left.  On  the  second  day  the  Baltic 
was  floated  and,  although  the  trip  was  far  from 
pleasant,  she  reached  New  York  in  safety. 


IV 

IN   THE   GETTYSBUEG  CAMPAIGN 

"T71ARLY  in  1862  the  Twenty-third  Begi- 
J—J  ment  N.  Gr.  S.  N.  Y.  was  organized, 
largely  from  the  membership  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Eegiment,  and  on  the  fifth  of  February, 
1863,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Woodward  of  the 
old  regiment  was  elected  Lieutenant-Colonel 
of  the  new,  which  honor  he  accepted.  On  the 
twenty-third  of  the  following  month,  the  Col 
onel  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  having  re 
signed,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Woodward  was 
elected  to  succeed  him.  Strong  efforts  were 
made  to  persuade  Colonel  Woodward  to  re 
main  with  the  Twenty-third,  but  his  inclina 
tion  and  his  sense  of  duty  led  him  to  return  to 
the  regiment  with  which  he  had  been  so  long 
associated  and  which  he  considered  still 
needed  his  services.  He  at  once  set  about  im 
proving  the  drill  and  discipline  of  the  com- 


96  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

mand.  The  condition  of  the  Union  campaign 
was  not  promising  and  it  was  apparent  to  mili 
tary  men  that  the  services  of  the  National 
Guard  would  shortly  be  needed  again.  At  last 
this  became  a  certainty.  After  the  defeat  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  at  Chancellorsville, 
General  Lee's  army  moved  northward,  and  on 
June  fifteenth,  1863,  entered  Pennsylvania. 
General  George  W.  Wingate,  in  his  history  of 
the  occurrences  in  which  the  National  Guard  of 
New  York  took  part,  says,  "At  that  time  Gen 
eral  Couch,  the  commander  of  the  department 
of  the  Susquehanna,  had,  he  states  in  his  of 
ficial  report,  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
organized  troops  for  duty  in  his  department, 
on  June  16th,  when  the  Confederate  force  en 
tered  Chambersburg,  sixteen  miles  north  of 
the  Maryland  line.  ...  On  June  15th  Secre 
tary  Stanton  appealed  to  Governor  Seymour 
of  New  York,  .  .  .  asking  him  if  he  would 
not  immediately  forward  twenty  thousand 
militia  as  volunteers  without  bounty,  or  what 
number  he  could  possibly  raise.  This  appeal 
was  supplemented  by  another  from  Governor 
Curtin  of  Pennsylvania  to  Governor  Seymour, 


THE  GETTYSBURG  CAMPAIGN        97 

stating  that  the  enemy  is  now  in  Cumber 
land  Valley  in  large  forces,  the  danger  is  im 
minent,  and  urging  him  to  forward  all  troops 
to  Harrisburg  without  delay.  Orders  to  the 
National  Guard  for  their  immediate  departure 
to  the  front  were  issued  by  Governor  Sey 
mour  on  the  eighteenth  of  June,  the  day  these 
telegrams  were  received,  and  Governor  Sey 
mour  at  once  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  that '  about  twelve  thousand  men  are  now 
on  the  move  for  Harrisburg,  in  good  spirits 
and  well  equipped.'" 

Colonel  Woodward  had  learned  from  experi 
ence  that  it  is  unwise  to  despatch  a  regiment 
to  the  front  insufficiently  equipped.  But  on 
the  twentieth  of  June  the  Thirteenth  started, 
four  hundred  and  ninety-six  strong.  This 
was  a  smaller  number  than  had  left  with  it 
on  previous  occasions ;  but  many  of  the  mem 
bers  who  had  accompanied  the  command  in 
1861  and  1862  had  now  enlisted  in  the  vol 
unteers,  and  many  had  gone  into  the  Twenty- 
third.  During  its  march  through  the  streets 
the  regiment  was  again  saluted  by  the  en 
thusiastic  citizens  in  great  numbers,  and  all 

13 


98  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

were  sensible  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
and  the  perilous  nature  of  the  campaign. 
Without  the  heavy  bounties  such  as  were  then 
being  paid  to  volunteers,  the  men  were  has 
tening  to  confront  the  exultant  veterans  of 
Lee,  who  outnumbered  by  more  than  ten  to 
one  the  force  that  could  be  gathered  to  arrest 
the  rebel  advance  along  the  line  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  until  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
could  come  up.  To  stimulate  the  zeal  of  the 
National  Guard  the  War  Department  issued 
an  order  promising  a  medal  of  honor  to  every 
man  of  this  emergency  force,  a  medal  such  as 
is  usually  awarded  only  for  distinguished  ser 
vice  on  a  forlorn  hope.  The  Thirteenth  ar 
rived  at  Harrisburg  on  the  twenty-third  of 
June,  and  the  men  were  immediately  set  to 
work  strengthening  the  improvised  fortifica 
tions  and  clearing  away  the  woods  that  might 
have  concealed  and  sheltered  the  enemy. 
York  was  occupied  by  the  rebel  General  Early 
on  the  twenty-second  and  the  bridge  across 
the  river  at  that  place  was  burned  by  its  de 
fenders.  General  Lee  had  ordered  that  Har 
risburg  should  be  attacked  on  the  thirtieth. 


EEBEL  ADVANCE  CHECKED         99 

General  Jenkins,  of  Stonewall  Jackson's  divi 
sion,  made  a  reconnoissance  of  the  works  on 
the  twenty-eighth,  and  on  the  following  day 
General  Ewell  advanced  to  begin  the  attack. 
If  it  had  been  vigorously  pressed  there  could, 
in  view  of  the  great  disparity  in  numbers  and 
the  superiority  of  the  rebel  forces,  have  been 
but  one  result.  Harrisburg  must  have  fallen, 
the  Union  troops  would  have  had  difficulty  in 
avoiding  capture,  and  the  victorious  rebels, 
only  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from 
Elmira,  would  have  absolutely  commanded 
the  railroad  system  of  Pennsylvania,  with 
Philadelphia  easily  at  their  mercy.  The 
plucky  stand  made  by  the  National  Guard 
regiments  checked  the  rebel  advance  just  long 
enough  to  prevent  such  disasters  and  to  en 
able  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  catch  up 
with  Lee  and  compel  him  to  call  in  all  his 
forces  and  concentrate  them  upon  Gettysburg. 
An  intelligent  critic  declares  that  the  hand 
ling  of  the  National  Guard  contingent  at  this 
time  by  the  brigadiers  from  New  York  was 
unskilful  and  inefficient.  This  also  appears 
plain  from  Colonel  Woodward's  letters.  The 


100  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

actions  of  the  troops  were,  however,  prompt, 
vigorous,  and  effective.  During  this  cam 
paign  the  filial  spirit  of  Colonel  Woodward 
was  again  manifested  in  letters  to  his  father. 
The  first,  written  from  Fort  Washington,  Har- 
risburg,  was  dated  the  twenty-third  of  June. 

DEAE  FATHER, 

I  have  been  positively  prevented  from  writ 
ing  even  a  little  except  as  required  in  the 
routine  of  business.  The  papers  will  have  in 
formed  you  that  we  are  at  present  engaged  in 
the  defense  of  Harrisburg,  being,  together  with 
the  Twenty-third,  encamped  within  a  large 
earth-work  named  as  in  the  heading  of  this 
letter.  The  works  are  located  on  the  crown  of 
a  high  hill  which  slopes  toward  the  river  on  one 
side  and  the  most  beautiful  valley  in  the  world 
on  the  other.  We  lie  on  the  steep  slope  toward 
the  river.  The  tents  are  therefore  uncomfort 
ably  slanting,  and  the  men  are  obliged  to  dig 
their  toe-nails  in  deep  to  keep  themselves  from 
sliding  out  of  the  tents  at  night.  I  have  not 
got  my  tent  up  yet  and  the  field  and  staff  are 
now  all  in  one  hospital  tent.  I  have  my  hands 


AN  EXCITED  BRIGADIER  101 

full  as  can  be.  The  very  first  want  I  experi 
enced  was  a  horse.  To-day  I  bought  a  very 
large  one.  .  .  .  To-night  thousands  of  people 
are  flocking  into  the  city,  as  the  rebs  are  com 
ing  down  upon  us.  At  noon  some  twenty 
graybacks  were  brought  in,  having  been  cap 
tured  about  twenty  miles  out.  Altogether 
things  look  like  work.  I  have  orders  to  be 
ready  for  the  advance  movement  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice. 

Other  letters  follow. 

IN  CAMP  AT  FENWICK,  June  29th,  1863. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

I  think  I  wrote  you  last  on  the  twenty-fifth. 
That  evening  as  we  were  eating  supper  Gen 
eral  Hall  rode  up  to  my  tent  in  much  excite 
ment  and  ordered  me  to  have  the  "  long  roll 
beaten  and  that  I  get  the  men  in  line  imme 
diately,  and  to  march  right  away."  I  asked 
him  where  we  were  to  march  to.  He  said  to 
report  at  his  headquarters.  I  inquired  what 
the  men  were  to  carry.  He  answered  that  we 
were  to  go  out  some  six  or  eight  miles  for 
picket  duty.  I  accordingly  assembled  the 


102  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

regiment,  ordering  each  man  to  carry  rub 
ber  and  woolen  blanket.  This  was  done 
promptly.  I  reported  to  General  Hall  and 
he  ordered  me  to  march  to  this  point.  We 
started  at  quarter-past  eight  in  the  evening, 
marched  nine  miles,  and  arrived  at  10:35.  I 
call  that  quick  work,  but  we  heard  on  the 
route  that  Yates,  who  is  in  command  here,  was 
getting  pounded.  On  our  arrival  we  were 
much  astonished  to  find  the  General  comfort 
ably  in  bed,  entirely  oblivious  of  our  coming. 
He  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  us.  That 
night  we  passed  in  a  train  of  cars.  The  next 
morning  we  had  nothing  to  eat  except  what 
we  could  get  at  the  few  farm-houses  in  the 
neighborhood.  My  share  was  nix.  At  eleven 
o'clock  we  were  sent  on  the  picket-line  — 
stayed  there  all  day  in  a  piece  of  woods. 
Dinner  was  supplied,  by  the  kindness  of  the 
Twelfth  Regiment,  in  small  quantities.  Sup 
per  was  missing  altogether.  At  four  o'clock 
Yates  ordered  me  to  Harrisburg  to  get  our 
tents  and  truck  out.  I  rode  down  as  fast  as 
the  horse  could  go,  impressed  wagons,  got  the 
goods  together,  and  brought  all  that  six  wag- 


A  DRENCHING  EAIN  103 

ons  could  carry,  being  obliged  to  leave  the 
knapsacks  and  the  men's  goods  behind,  for 
lack  of  transportation.  Got  back  here  at  nine 
o'clock  and  found  my  men  in  line  of  battle  on 
the  edge  of  a  piece  of  woods.  At  eleven  o'clock 
a  drenching  rain  from  the  northeast  came  on 
and  continued  all  night  and  all  the  next  day. 
Of  course,  being  without  shelter  we  were  soon 
soaked.  My  tents  were  about  a  mile  behind 
us.  We  passed  the  night  wretchedly.  In  the 
morning  I  took  the  liberty  of  issuing  the  tents, 
(shelter),  to  the  men,  and  they  pitched  them  in 
the  woods.  The  ground  being  ankle  deep  in 
mud  the  tents  improved  our  condition  only  as 
would  an  umbrella  that  of  a  man  in  a  bath-tub 
with  the  shower-bath  turned  on.  The  rain 
continued  incessantly  until  six  o'clock,  when 
it  abated  to  a  drizzle.  Another  uncomfortable 
night,  except  that  in  spite  of  everything  we 
slept,  being  worn  out.  Large  bonfires  have 
been  burning  all  day  and  were  kept  up  all 
night.  About  eight  o'clock  I  got  the  men  all 
around  me  in  a  crowd  and  complimented  them 
upon  their  good  behavior.  It  is  strange,  but 
quite  true,  that  not  a  man  has  absented  him- 


104  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

self  or  indulged  in  any  grumbling  during  the 
whole  time.  I  command  a  regiment  of  Mark 
Tapleys.  The  morning  brought  us  evidences 
of  a  clearing-up.  About  ten  o'clock  the  sun 
shone,  and  by  sheer  persuasion  our  most  wise 
and  able  general,  who  had  kept  us  in  line  of 
battle  for  forty  hours,  with  the  enemy  as 
many  miles  away,  consented  to  our  going  into 
camp.  Our  present  location  was  selected  and 
by  noon  we  were  comparatively  comfortable. 
The  day  previous  the  knapsacks,  overcoats, 
etc.  of  the  men  had  arrived.  They  were,  ow 
ing  to  the  neglect  of  the  officer  I  left  in  com 
mand  while  I  was  away  scouting  and  mapping 
the  country,  indiscriminately  scrambled  for. 
Imagine  the  result.  Every  man,  almost,  has 
somebody  else's  clothes.  My  men  spent  the 
afternoon  in  drying  and  brushing  up  what 
they  had  left  of  them  and  at  tattoo  entered 
their  tents  hoping  for  a  good  night's  rest. 
Again  our  most  distinguished  and  accom 
plished  general,  Yates,  got  an  idea  into  his 
head  to  do  something  for  our  comfort.  At 
eleven  and  a  half  we  were  routed  out  and 
marched  to  headquarters,  two  hundred  yards 


ARDUOUS  NIGHT  WORK  105 

away,  and  there  we  lay  all  night  and  observed 
the  companies  being  detached  every  few  min 
utes  for  the  various  purposes  which  his  inge 
nuity  devised,  one  company  being  sent  to 
garrison  an  earthwork  composed  of  six  rail 
way-ties  piled  one  on  another,  backed  by  thir 
teen  sandbags.  Another  detachment  of  two 
companies  had  to  garrison  a  breastwork  com 
posed  of  a  pile  of  stones  on  top  of  a  hill  nearly 
as  high  as  the  moon  and  commanding  a  road 
used  by  two  farmers'  wives  as  the  nearest  way 
to  get  their  milk  and  butter  to  the  main  road. 
So  high  above  the  earth  is  it  that  were  it 
not  for  the  attraction  of  gravitation  I  doubt 
whether  a  bullet  fired  from  the  summit  would 
reach  the  plain  below.  At  two  o'clock  A.  M.  I 
was  sent  with  two  companies  to  obstruct  a 
road  crossing  the  mountain  at  Miller's  Gap. 
A  guide  was  furnished  who  was  the  same  fel 
low  that  gave  the  information  to  the  general 
of  the  existence  of  the  road.  As  the  lower 
parts  of  all  the  roads  in  the  vicinity  had  been 
obstructed  we  found  it  hard  work  to  get 
started  on  our  mission  but  succeeded  in  get 
ting  around  the  obstructions.  After  laming 

14 


106  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

my  horse  in  both  hind  feet  so  seriously  as  to 
render  him  entirely  unserviceable  we  marched 
directly  up  the  mountain  side,  when,  finding 
the  men  unable  to  stand  it  longer,  and  having 
grave  doubts  as  to  the  existence  of  the  road 
and  as  to  the  guide's  knowledge  of  the  place,  I 
halted  the  men  and  rode  along  alone  with  the 
man.  After  spending  an  hour  in  a  fruitless 
search  I  gave  the  fellow  a  dose  and  returned 
to  where  I  left  the  men.  I  found  the  poor  fel 
lows  all  fast  asleep ;  got  them  up  and  back  to 
headquarters  at  six  o'clock.  You  will  see  that 
I  was  in  the  saddle  all  night.  My  poor  horse's 
feet  were  all  torn  to  pieces  and  good  for  no 
thing.  At  seven  o'clock,  finding  the  general 
was  in  bed  and  asleep,  I  took  the  responsibil 
ity  of  getting  the  regiment  back  into  camp, 
where  we  spent  the  balance  of  the  day,  and, 
strange  to  say,  we  were  all  allowed  to  remain 
undisturbed.  Thus  you  observe  that  we 
passed  the  nights  of  the  twenty-fifth,  twenty- 
sixth,  and  twenty-seventh  without  sleep  and 
but  partly  fed.  For  new  men  coming  from 
featherbeds  this  is  too  much  to  require,  but 
in  *spite  of  it  all  I  have  not  a  man  in  the  hos- 


IN  DANGER  OF  CAPTURE  107 

pital  and  but  very  few  cases  needing  medical 
assistance.  I  have  stood  it  remarkably  well, 
but  I  have  not  escaped  entirely,  having  caught 
a  terrible  cold,  which  has  got  on  my  chest,  and 
the  coughing  is  very  painful.  To-day  I  am 
much  better  and  able  to  attend  to  light  duty. 

I  presume  you  are  already  in  possession  of 
as  much  news  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the 
rebs  as  we  are.  It  is  my  impression  that  a 
fight  is  very  imminent  and  I  have  shaped 
everything  to  be  in  readiness  for  it.  If  they 
come  here  we  shall  all  be  gobbled,  as  we  have 
not  over  fifteen  hundred  men,  and  our  gen 
eral  appears  to  think  it  the  height  of  prudence 
to  scatter  us  as  much  as  possible.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  give  the  men  any  drill,  either  by 
company  or  regiment,  yet  I  have  faith  that 
they  will  make  a  good  stand.  We  have  news 
from  Harrisburg  this  morning  that  the  rebs 
are  close  upon  that  place,  and  as  no  trains 
have  come  up  from  there  to-day  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  we  are  cut  off.  We,  however, 
can  easily  get  across  the  river  and  obtain  a 
safe  retreat  unless  they  stretch  in  and  destroy 
a  bridge  that  is  in  front  of  us. 


108  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

The  outside  of  the  letter  bears  this  endorse 
ment  :  "  Lord !  How  we  would  appreciate  our 
old  Dutch  General  Webber.  Militia  generals 
are  a  nuisance." 

CAMP  CROOKE,  FENWICK,  PA., 
June  30th,  1863. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

Up  to  the  present  time  we  are  guiltless  of 
having  seen  or  heard  the  rebs,  though  last 
evening  we  heard  very  heavy  firing  at  Harris- 
burg.  We  see  by  the  papers  of  to-day  that 
they  were  fighting  there,  but  people  from 
there  say  that  the  artillery  were  merely  prac 
tising.  .  .  .  There  are  two  railroad  bridges 
across  the  river  at  this  point,  one  of  which  is 
passable  for  infantry,  the  other  but  partially 
so.  Sterret's  Gap  was  a  good  entrance  to  this 
valley,  and  through  it  the  rebs  would  have 
come  a  day  or  two  since  had  it  not  been  ob 
structed  by  blasting  rocks  and  felling  trees. 
Miller's  and  several  other  gaps  in  this  valley 
have  also  been  filled  up,  so  that  if  they  come 
they  will  have  trouble  to  get  in.  However,  it 
can  be  done.  If  they  intend  to  attack  Harris- 
burg  from  the  front  they  will  have  a  hard 


CANNONADING  HEAED  109 

fight  at  the  fort  where  we  were  first  stationed. 
If  they  wish  to  get  the  city  easier  they  can 
flank  it  by  driving  us  out  of  this  position.  If 
they  intend  this  last  movement  they  must  use 
cavalry  in  large  numbers  and  skedaddle  us  or 
we  shall  burn  the  bridges.  A  few  miles  above 
here  the  river  is  fordable,  but  barely  so.  The 
troops  here  consist  of  the  Fifth,  Twelfth,  Thir 
teenth,  and  Twenty-fourth  New  York,  and  a 
detachment  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Pennsyl 
vania,  besides  two  pieces  of  artillery.  There 
is  canonnading  going  on  somewhere  within 
ten  miles  of  us  now.  It  sounds,  however,  like 
drill  practice.1 

P.  S.,  July  1st.  A  quiet  night.  We  hear 
that  the  rebs  are  retreating.  We  expect  or 
ders  to  follow  them  up. 

FORT  WASHINGTON,  HARRISBURG, 
July  3d,  1863. 

I  think  I  wrote  you  last  Monday  evening, 
from  Fenwick.  We  heard  a  good  deal  of  fir- 

1  It  was  the  fight  at  Oyster  Point  between  Jenkins'  advance 
and  General  Ewan's  brigade,  which  consisted  of  the  Twenty- 
second  and  Twenty-seventh  Regiments  National  Guard  of 
New  York  and  Laud's  battery. 


110  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ing  that  night  from  the  direction  of  Sterret's 
Gap  and  I  was  kept  busy  nearly  all  night. 
Tuesday  was  a  rainy  day  which  I  spent  almost 
entirely  in  my  tent  and  asleep.  Wednesday 
was  bright  and  clear.  Cleaned  up  the  camp 
and  had  company  drill  and  dress  parade. 
Had  a  good  night's  rest  until  eleven  o'clock, 
when  we  got  orders  to  break  camp  and  re 
turn  to  the  fort  at  Bridgeport,  which  is  op 
posite  Harrisburg.  At  half-past  twelve  we 
were  under  way.  At  half -past  five  or  six  we 
were  comfortably  located  in  the  tents  of  the 
Twenty-third,  which  regiment  had  been  or 
dered  to  go  to  Carlisle.  This  was  lucky  for 
us,  and  last  night  we  enjoyed  a  good  night's 
sleep.  This  morning  we  have  cleaned  camp 
thoroughly  and  it  bids  fair  to  be  a  comfortable 
place  for  some  one  to  pass  the  night.  I  fear, 
however,  that  we  are  not  to  be  left  in  peace 
for  many  hours  together,  and  as  it  is  clouding 
up  very  rapidly  I  guess  we  shall  have  orders 
to-night. 

Up  to  noon  to-day  the  Twenty-third  had 
not  reached  Carlisle  but  were  pressing  for 
ward.  I  have  sent  a  company  (E)  in  light 


NEAR  GETTYSBURG  111 

marching  order,  well  armed,  to  go  through  by 
railroad.  They  may  be  away  some  time.  It 
will  be  their  business  to  protect  contrabands 
repairing  the  track.  .  .  . 

P.  S.    Eleven  o'clock  p.  M.    Copy  of  order 
this  moment  received. 

HEADQUARTERS  FIFTH  BRIGADE,  N.  G.  S.  N.  Y., 

FORT  WASHINGTON,  July  3d,  1863. 
COLONEL  : 

You  will  have  all  the  troops  under  your 
command  ready  to  march  at  2  o'clock  to-mor 
row  morning.  The  troops  will  be  in  light 
marching  order  with  blankets  and  canteens 
and  haversacks,  but  without  knapsacks.  They 
will  take  with  them  whatever  rations  you  have 
on  hand.  It  is  of  the  utmost  moment  that 
the  troops  should  be  ready  to  the  moment. 
By  order  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  HALL. 

Now  you  know  as  much  as  I  do.    J.  B.  W. 

IN  THE  MOUNTAINS,  SOMEWHERE  BETWEEN  CARLISLE 

AND  GETTYSBURG,  July  6th,  1863. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

The  last  letter  I  wrote  was  from  Camp  at 
Harrisburg.    I  copied  an  order  just  then  re- 


112  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ceived.  This  is  the  result.  We  started  punc 
tually  by  railroad  for  Carlisle.  They  took  our 
horses  from  us.  Got  to  Carlisle  half-past 
seven,  left  there  half-past  twelve.  The  men, 
having  been  fed  by  kind-hearted  people, 
marched  out  in  a  terrific  northeast  rain 
three  miles,  halted  at  a  big  barn  for  a  couple 
of  hours,  resumed  the  march,  and  kept  it  up 
until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  Slept  in  the  road, 
in  the  mud.  Rained  all  night.  I  slept  very 
well,  never  better.  Resumed  the  march  at 
nine  o'clock  the  next  morning.  No  grub. 
Halted  at  a  little  hamlet  surrounding  an  iron 
forge.  The  men  confiscated  flour,  mixed  it 
with  water,  and  baked  on  their  plates.  Started 
at  two  o'clock  for  a  mountain  pass.  Marched 
four  or  five  miles ;  laid  in  the  woods  all  night. 
Still  raining.  Marched  again  at  seven  this 
morning  and  came  about  two  miles  to  this 
place.  Are  now  in  a  clearing  surrounded  by 
woods.  I  believe  we  are  ten  miles  from  Gettys 
burg.  Rebels  in  great  plenty  during  the  night 
and  this  morning.  Sent  a  good  many  to  head 
quarters.  All  my  baggage  is  with  me.  Items : 
zouave  jacket,  trousers,  big  boots,  haversack, 


MARCH  AND  BIVOUAC  113 

opera  glass,  and  overcoat.  No  blankets.  Was 
very  sick  when  I  left  the  forge.  Am  now  well, 
never  felt  better  in  my  life,  hungry,  wet  as 
a  rat;  having  forded  a  dozen  streams  boots 
hang  tight  to  my  legs,  overcoat  weighs  fifty 
pounds.  General  Crooke  is  a  brick:  marched 
on  foot  with  us  all  the  way  and  shared  our 
fortunes.  The  men  are  in  good  order  and 
spirits;  not  one  sick,  but  many  foot-sore. 
Don't  worry,  we  are  all  right.  This  [which 
was  a  mere  scrap]  is  all  the  paper  in  the  regi 
ment.  If  I  had  more  would  write  as  long  as 
we  lay  here. 

WAYNESBURG,  PA.,  July  9th,  1863. 
I  last  wrote  you  on  Monday  the  sixth  at 
about  noon.  Immediately  after  finishing  the 
letter  we  marched,  the  weather  having  cleared 
and  the  roads  drying  somewhat.  Proceeded 
steadily  until  ten  p.  M.,  when  we  halted  in  a 
piece  of  woods  and  bivouacked,  getting  a 
shower-bath  before  morning.  Marched  about 
ten  miles  the  next  morning,  (the  seventh). 
Started  at  eight  A.  M.,  marched  five  miles  to 
Chambersburg  pike.  Here  we  had  one  day's 
rations  of  hardtack  served ;  killed  a  steer  and 

15 


114  JOHN  B.  WOODWAKD 

ate  him.  .  .  .  Started  the  march  again  at  three 
p.  M.  and  reached  a  place  called  Funkstown  or 
Altodale.  We  encamped  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  in  a  piece  of  woods.  At  ten  p.  M.  it 
commenced  to  rain  again  and  it  rained  in 
dead  earnest,  soaking  us  completely.  A  small 
stream  passing  through  the  woods  became 
swollen  and  overflowed  the  camp,  washing  out 
the  fires  and  nearly  drowning  some  of  us  be 
fore  we  woke  up.  The  balance  of  the  night 
was  very  uncomfortable.  The  next  morning, 
(the  eighth),  the  rain  was  still  pouring  until 
about  eleven  o'clock,  when  it  cleared  up.  At 
noon  resumed  the  march  through  mud,  mire, 
and  fording  swollen  streams.  At  seven  p.  M. 
reached  this  place,  and  are  now  in  line  of  bat 
tle  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill  where  a  battery  is 
planted.  The  hill  is  crowned  with  woods  and 
we  are  on  the  skirts  of  the  woods  —  a  very 
pleasant  place,  but  water  is  very  scarce.  My 
horse  arrived  last  night  and  this  morning  the 
Quartermaster  has  brought  up  my  baggage.  I 
have  therefore  washed,  brushed  my  hair,  got 
on  clean  socks,  but  I  am  without  a  clean  shirt. 
I  will  try  to  keep  my  baggage  with  me,  but 


EXCITING  CONDITIONS  115 

may  send  it  home  or  abandon  it.  Eebels  were 
very  plenty  again  last  night  and  this  morning : 
sent  a  lot  of  them  to  headquarters.  Lee's  en 
tire  army  is  said  to  be  in  front  of  us,  but  as  I 
have  not  seen  a  paper  since  the  third  it  would 
be  folly  for  me  to  attempt  to  state  where 
either  party  is.  We  have  rumors  that  Lee  has 
been  routed,  that  Grant  has  Vicksburg,  and 
that  Dix  is  in  Richmond.  We  are  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  the  rebel  cavalry  picket. 
It  is  believed,  however,  that  they  are  retiring, 
in  which  case  we  are  to  follow  them  up.  They 
have  burned  a  bridge  some  distance  in  front  of 
us,  which  must  be  rebuilt  before  we  can  get  to 
them;  so  I  hope  for  a  day's  rest.  It  is  now 
six  A.  M.  Plenty  of  men  sore  footed  but  none 
sick. 

WAYNESBORO,  PAV  July  llth,  1863. 

I  intended  to  write  a  long  letter,  but  five 
minutes  ago,  and  while  we  were  all  preparing 
for  brigade  review,  I  received  orders  to  get 
ready  for  the  march.  We  are  now  within  a 
very  few  miles  of  Lee's  army,  so  we  can't  have 
much  of  a  tramp  unless  we  are  to  make  a  ret 
rograde  movement,  which  I  presume  is  hardly 


116  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

supposable.  To-day  we  have  had  an  issue  of 
rations,  (half  rations),  being  the  first  proper 
issue  since  the  third  of  July.  The  men,  of 
course,  have  eaten  in  the  meantime,  but  only 
what  they  could  beg  or  buy,  which  consisted 
of  bread  and  apple-butter.  "We  are  in  poor 
condition  for  the  march.  The  last  two  days 
have  been  very  pleasant,  but  to-night  it  is 
clouding  up  and  intends,  I  presume,  another 
rain-storm.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  prefer  a 
march  in  the  rain  to  the  hot  sun.  I  am  still 
in  first-rate  health.  I  have  a  horse,  not  the 
one  I  bought,  but  still  a  most  excellent  one. 
The  health  of  the  regiment  is  not  as  good  as 
it  was,  but  it  is  not  bad.  It  is  hardly  worth 
while  to  write  me  as  our  movements  are  very 
uncertain  and  rapid. 

IN  A  SHELTER  TENT  AT  CAVETOWN,  THUNDER, 

LIGHTNING,  AND  RAIN,  July  12th,  1864. 

The  day  is  dark  and  dreary,  and  the  wind 
(and  rain)  is  never  weary,  &c.  .  .  .  We  left 
Waynesboro,  that  interesting  spot,  at  six  p.  M., 
after  having  eaten  our  half  rations.  At  eight 
o'clock  we  forded  a  stream  called  the  Little 


PURSUING  THE  EEBELS  117 

Antietam,  the  rebs  having  burned  the  bridge. 
The  fire  was  still  smoldering  and  we  were 
close  upon  their  heels.  We  kept  jogging  along 
until  half -past  ten  p.  M.,  when  we  filed  up  into 
a  clover- field  and  bivouacked  for  the  night. 
I  had  my  shelter-tent,  which  I  carry  with 
me,  and  Dr.  Ormiston,  Dr.  Pray,  and  myself 
passed  the  night  in  comfort.  At  four  A.  M.  we 
were  up  and  on  the  road  again,  and  at  twelve 
M.  reached  this  place,  having  come  most  of  the 
distance  across  lots.  We  went  supperless  to 
bed  and  were  put  on  the  march  without  a  par 
ticle  to  eat.  The  consequence  was  that  when 
I  got  here  I  had  about  seventy-five  men  with 
me,  the  balance  being  strewn  along  the  road, 
overcome  by  the  march  without  food.  I 
halted  in  a  clover-field  alongside  a  brook  and 
we  are  bivouacked  here.  It  had  been  threaten 
ing  rain  all  day  and  at  two  o'clock  a  frightful 
thunder-storm  broke  upon  us.  Fortunately 
my  tent  had  been  pitched,  and  I  am  in  it  with 
two  others;  but  these  shelter-tents  are  like 
umbrellas,  they  keep  off  only  the  heaviest  part 
of  a  rain.  They  leak,  and  we  have  a  little  rain 
storm  inside,  so  we  put  our  rubber  blankets 


118  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

around  us  and  squat  on  the  ground  and  let  it 
rain.  The  balance  of  our  division  is  in  bi 
vouac  some  half-mile  from  here,  and  orderlies 
have  been  trotting  here  all  the  afternoon  with 
orders  to  move  up  to  them,  but  as  I  have  not 
twenty  men  here  I  think  I  will  wait.  The  bal 
ance  are  around  the  town  getting,  (buying  or 
stealing),  grub.  I  don't  blame  the  men,  for  we 
must  eat,  and  to  do  that  we  must  obtain  ma 
terials.  The  inhabitants  are  mainly  very  kind, 
and  I  guess  very  few  men  have  failed  to  get  a 
good  feed  since  our  arrival.  There  are  some 
few  Secesh  here,  being  the  first  we  have  come 
across,  and  they  are  very  uncivil.  Some  of 
my  best  officers  were  used  up,  Bach  among 
them,  and  I  have  just  heard  that  he  is  lying 
in  a  field  a  couple  of  miles  away  from  here, 
without  any  shelter.  I  immediately  sent  two 
of  his  men  to  bring  him  in.  Our  hospital 
steward  forages  for  me  and  the  staff,  and  Dr. 
Fray's  man,  Matthew,  cooks  for  us;  so  we 
never  miss  our  three  meals  a  day,  except  upon 
the  march,  and  not  often  then;  so  when  I 
speak  of  having  eaten  nothing  I  speak  collec 
tively  and  not  individually.  To-day  I  have 


BKIGADE  MISMANAGEMENT  119 

eaten  any  quantity  of  bread  and  apple -butter, 
a  heap  better  than  nothing. 

We  have  all  sorts  of  rumors  in  camp  about 
the  place  where  Lee  and  the  rebs  are  located. 
I  know  that  they  cannot  be  far  away,  for  they 
have  just  left  everywhere  we  have  marched 
in.  All  the  Brooklyn  regiments  except  the 
Forty-seventh  are  here,  and  we  are  all  growl 
ing  about  our  treatment,  but  I  suppose  the 
"  darned  militia  "  are  not  worth  anything  any 
how.  However,  it  does  seem  hard  to  make  as 
many  sacrifices  as  we  have  and  then,  when 
here,  to  be  snubbed  and  maltreated.  The 
three-years'  troops  who  are  here  have  every 
thing  they  need.  We  have  not  a  single  wagon. 
Our  men  are  obliged  to  carry  along,  between 
them,  their  cooking  utensils,  mess-pans,  etc.  I 
pack  my  horse's  back  full  in  order  to  transport 
what  is  necessary  for  myself,  yet  I  have  not 
a  single  change  of  clothes.  All  this  I  could 
stand  if  we  had  rations  for  the  men.  I  can't 
and  won't  give  them  a  single  particle  of  ex 
tra  work.  In  consequence  we  have  no  camp 
guard,  and  the  men  come  and  go  as  suits  their 
own  pleasure,  but  they  behave  well  and  I  have 


120  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

no  complaints  to  make  about  them.  We  have 
here  a  certain  General  Knipe,  who  was  for 
merly  a  clerk  at  Harrisburg,  a  very  gross  sort 
of  fellow,  who  appears  to  have  a  grudge 
against  us  Yorkers.  He  threatened  in  Harris- 
burg  to  give  us .  We  think  he  has  suc 
ceeded.  He  says  he  will  put  us  in  a  fight  to 
see  whether  we  have  any  pluck.  Perhaps  he 
will  succeed  in  that.  He  struck  one  of  our 
darkies  yesterday  with  his  riding-whip  for  be 
ing  a  little  slow  in  entering  the  ford. 

As  the  ground  is  wet,  and  nothing  between 
it  and  my  trousers,  I  feel  a  little  moist  like,  so 
I  think  I  will  give  over  writing  and  go  and 
stand  with  my  back  to  the  fire  which  is  burn 
ing  in  fine  style  in  front  of  my  tent.  Snake 
fences  make  good  fire- wood.  Here's  the  G-en- 
eral  and  I  must  move. 

BOONSBORO,  July  14th,  1863. 
Immediately  after  I  closed  my  last  letter  we 
got  on  the  march  for  another  camp  site,  about 
half  a  mile  away.  Here  we  received  the  meat 
of  a  small  steer  and  the  proceeds  of  two  bar 
rels  of  flour  that  filled  the  men  somewhat. 


IN  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC  121 

The  next  morning,  (the  thirteenth),  we  marched 
at  eight  o'clock,  on  the  Smoketown  road,  but 
soon  struck  off  on  to  the  road  for  this  place. 
The  day  was  rainy.  At  noon  we  halted  in  a 
piece  of  woods  and  pitched  the  tents.  It  being 
promised  that  we  were  to  receive  rations  we 
built  fires  to  cook,  but  the  grub  did  not  come. 
At  six  o'clock  we  broke  camp  and  got  under 
way  for  Boonsboro.  Halted  at  ten  p.  M.,  still 
raining,  and  bivouacked  in  a  stony  field.  Here 
we  found  ourselves  incorporated  with  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  we  were  entirely 
surrounded  with  camp  and  signal  fires.  Early 
this  morning  I  drew  and  obtained  one  and  a 
half  day's  rations,  which  were  issued  to  the 
men,  and  to-day  all  is  quiet.  At  eleven  o'clock 
we  struck  across  country  and  marched  about 
two  miles  to  our  present  camp,  which  is  two 
miles  from  Boonsboro  on  the  Hagerstown 
road.  Saw  to-day's  "Tribune,"  which  was  a 
great  treat.  This  afternoon  I  rode  into  town 
and  found  cousin  George,  who  was  stopping 
at  a  hotel.  I  also  came  across  a  good  many 
acquaintances  who  are  in  the  army.  To-mor 
row  I  shall  try  to  find  the  Fifteenth  Massa- 

16 


122  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

chu  setts.  I  am  told  there  are  only  about  one 
hundred  of  them  left.  I  hope  to  find  Harris 
among  them.  The  news  to-night  is  that  Lee 
has  got  safely  across  the  Potomac.  From  the 
large  amount  of  cheering  in  the  regiments 
about  us  I  suppose  the  New  York  troops  have 
orders  to  leave  for  home  to-morrow.  I  believe 
we  are  to  be  allowed  to  march  to  Carlisle, 
some  sixty  miles,  and  there  take  the  cars. 
Your  affectionate  son, 

JNO.  B.  W. 

P.  S.  Fifteenth.  Am  on  horseback  on  the 
road  to  Frederick  and  home. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  war  letters.  There  is 
a  telegram  from  Frederick,  dated  the  sixteenth 
of  July,  which  reads  as  follows : 

At  Frederick.  Will  be  detained  several 
days.  Will  telegraph  again. 

Another  telegram  came  on  the  seventeenth, 
merely  saying, 

At  Baltimore  on  the  way  home. 


CAEE  FOE  HIS  MEN  123 

The  hardships  of  the  regiment  during  this 
service  were  very  great,  and  the  Colonel's  let 
ters  to  his  father  distinctly  specify  several  of 
the  most  important  respects  in  which  the  wel 
fare  of  the  troops  was  neglected.  The  Brook 
lyn  "  Eagle  "  of  July  twentieth,  reviewing  the 
enlistment  of  the  regiment,  said : 

They  experienced  a  terribly  rough  time  dur 
ing  their  brief  campaign,  and,  although  not 
participating  in  any  battles,  did  enough 
marching  in  mud  up  to  their  knees,  and  in 
a  few  instances  in  water  up  to  the  armpits, 
to  make  up  in  a  measure  for  the  lack  of  bullet 
exercise. 

However,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that 
the  men  themselves  felt  and  recognized  the 
fact  that  their  commanding  officer  did  all  he 
possibly  could  to  relieve  the  deplorable  defi 
ciencies  of  other  departments.  A  member  of 
the  regiment,  ("J.  S.  W."),  writing  to  the 
"Eagle"  under  date  of  June  twenty-ninth, 
declares:  "Our  Colonel  takes  good  care  of 
us  and  sees  that  we  get  everything  possible." 


124  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

This  disposition  to  care  for  his  men  is 
shown  in  the  official  report  of  Colonel  Wood 
ward,  dated  the  tenth  of  December,  1863,  in 
which  the  service  of  the  regiment  in  repelling 
the  rebel  invasion  is  succinctly  described. 

"  Previous  experience  in  the  field,"  says  the 
report,  "of  privations  and  sufferings  caused 
to  enlisted  men  by  hurrying  off  a  regiment 
half  uniformed  and  equipped,  and  poorly  sup 
plied  with  medical  and  other  stores,  caused  me 
in  this  instance  to  be  more  anxious  to  leave 
the  city  thoroughly  supplied  and  equipped 
than  to  earn  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
in  departure  reckless  of  the  consequences 
which  attended  upon  the  honor." 

Although  the  regiment  had,  since  the  out 
break  of  the  rebellion,  put  in  more  than 
seven  months  of  active  field  service,  the  mo 
ment  they  were  back  from  their  last  enlist 
ment  they  were  called  on  to  aid  in  suppressing 
the  draft  riots  in  New  York.  The  local  jour 
nals  of  July  twentieth  described  the  enthu 
siastic  reception  accorded  to  the  returning 
soldiers,  and  the  order  to  the  Thirteenth  for 
service  in  suppressing  the  riots  is  dated  the 


RESIGNATION  FROM  THE  THIRTEENTH      125 

twenty-first.  In  fact,  it  was  because  the  Thir 
teenth  was  so  well  qualified  for  such  work  that 
it  was  sent  home  so  expeditiously,  and  Colonel 
Woodward's  effectiveness  in  riot  duty  was  cor 
dially  recognized  by  the  civil  authorities.  The 
regiment  was  not  again  called  into  the  field, 
although  at  times  it  seemed  likely  that  the 
Nation  would  again  need  its  assistance.  The 
Colonel  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the 
regular  duties  of  his  position,  encouraging  the 
filling  up  of  the  ranks,  the  selection  of  proper 
company  officers,  and  the  proper  equipment 
and  thorough  instruction  of  the  officers  and 
men.  While  riding  one  day  at  the  head  of 
the  Thirteenth,  after  a  parade  in  which  the 
regiment  had  made  a  particularly  fine  appear 
ance,  the  thought  occurred  to  him,  as  he  him 
self  stated  to  a  friend  long  afterwards,  that  he 
had  now  done  all  he  could  for  the  regiment, 
and  that  he  had  better  give  place  to  some  one 
else.  Accordingly,  on  June  sixteenth,  1866, 
he  resigned  his  commission. 


V 

LATER  SEEVICE  IN  THE  NATIONAL  GUARD 

FOE  nearly  three  years  Colonel  Woodward 
was  out  of  military  life,  but  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  March,  1869,  he  was  nom 
inated  by  Governor  Hoffman  as  Major-Gen 
eral  commanding  the  Second  Division,  N. 
G.  S.  N.  Y.,  an  appointment  which  was 
promptly  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  The  di 
vision  of  which  he  thus  assumed  command 
consisted  of  the  Fifth  brigade,  comprising 
the  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  and 
Twenty-eighth  regiments  and  a  troop  of  cav 
alry,  and  the  Eleventh  brigade,  consisting  of 
the  Twenty-third,  Thirty-second,  and  Forty- 
seventh  regiments,  a  troop  of  cavalry  and  a 
howitzer  battery,  together  with  a  division 
troop  of  cavalry  and  Batteries  A  and  B.  The 
previous  management  of  the  division  had  been 


DIVISION  COMMANDER  127 

very  unsatisfactory.  Its  books  and  papers 
were  not  properly  kept  and  there  was  a  neglect 
of  administration  and  responsibility,  not  only 
in  the  division  but  in  the  two  brigades.  Gen 
eral  Woodward  surrounded  himself  with  a 
staff  thoroughly  qualified  by  military  service 
and  also  by  important  and  successful  business 
experience.  A  regular  headquarters  night  was 
established,  when  every  staff  officer  was  ex 
pected  to  attend.  A  representative  from  each 
brigade  and  regiment  of  the  division  was  also 
required  to  be  present  and  a  detailed  report 
from  each  organization  was  demanded.  The 
reports  were  immediately  discussed  and  what 
ever  action  was  suitable  was  forthwith  or 
dered,  so  that  the  entire  business  of  all  the 
organizations  of  the  division  was  promptly 
concluded.  A  headquarters  night  was  also 
established  for  the  two  brigades,  the  com 
manders  and  staff  of  which  occupied  rooms 
adjoining  those  of  the  Major-General.  By 
this  arrangement  matters  which  formerly 
had  occupied  weeks,  or  had  been  altogether 
neglected,  were  disposed  of  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  official  delays,  which  had  justified  serious 


128  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

complaints,  entirely  ceased  as  far  as  the  Sec 
ond  Division  was  concerned. 

General  Woodward  took  an  active  and 
prominent  part  in  the  development  of  rifle 
practice  in  the  National  Guard  of  this  State 
and  in  the  country.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  National  Rifle  Association  and 
upon  its  organization  was  appointed  its  treas 
urer,  a  position  which  he  held  for  many  years. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  its  range  committee, 
and  took  the  chief  part  in  the  laying  out  and 
construction  of  Creedmoor.  The  first  shot 
which  was  fired  at  the  range,  to  test  the  tar 
gets,  was  fired  by  George  W.  Wingate,  who 
was  then  a  colonel  upon  General  Woodward's 
staff,  and  the  General  himself  acted  as  marker. 
Before  Creedmoor  was  ready  for  use  General 
Woodward  had  taken  steps  to  introduce  sys 
tematic  instruction  in  rifle  practice  in  the  va 
rious  organizations  composing  his  command. 
In  his  annual  report  for  1871  he  urged  the 
necessity  of  introducing  the  system  into  the 
Guard,  and  in  January,  1874,  he  induced  his 
friend  Wingate,  who  was  then  secretary  of  the 
National  Rifle  Association,  to  accept  a  com- 


APPOINTED   INSPECTOR-GENERAL  129 

mission  as  Inspector  on  his  staff  for  the 
purpose  of  instructing  the  officers  and  men  of 
the  division  in  this  subject.  He  required  the 
officers  of  his  division  to  attend  the  lectures 
given  by  Colonel  Wingate  and  in  every  pos 
sible  way  pushed  the  system  among  the  troops. 
On  December  thirty-first,  1874,  General 
Woodward  resigned  the  command  of  the  div 
ision  and  the  rank  of  Major-General  to  take 
the  place  of  Inspector-General  of  the  State, 
where  he  ranked  as  Brigadier-General,  to 
which  position  he  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Tilden  on  January  first,  1875.  His  relinquish- 
ment  of  his  old  command  was  a  matter  of 
regret  to  all  the  officers  and  men,  who,  under 
his  firm  and  just  rule,  had  greatly  advanced 
in  military  effectiveness,  and  with  whom  he 
was  extremely  popular.  The  breaking  up  of 
his  staff  excited  especially  keen  feeling,  as 
the  General  and  the  members  had  become 
deeply  attached  to  one  another,  so  they  de 
termined  to  convert  the  membership  into  a 
fraternal  society.  To  that  end  the  following 
agreement  was  drawn  and  executed  on  the 
fourth  of  January: 

17 


130  JOHN   B.  WOODWARD 

The  undersigned,  who  have  composed  the 
Staff  of  the  Second  Division,  N.  G.  S.  N.  Y. 
since  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  1869,  here 
by  organize  themselves  in  an  association  to  be 
entitled 

THE   GENERAL  WOODWARD   STAFF, 

and  pledge  themselves  to  assemble  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day  of  March  in  each  year  for 
the  purpose  of  dining  together,  except  when 
such  date  shall  fall  upon  Sunday,  in  which 
case  such  assemblage  shall  occur  on  the  next 
succeeding  day. 

Signed  by 

John  B.  Woodward,  Major-General. 

Brigadier-General  Henry  Heath,  Assistant- 
A  d  j  ut  an  t-Gen  er  al. 

Colonel  Ira  L.  Beebe,  Assistant- Adjutant- 
General. 

Colonel  Henry  T.  Chapman,  Jr.,  Inspector. 

Colonel  George  W.  Wingate,  Inspector. 

Colonel  W.  H.  H.  Beebe,  Chief  of  Artillery. 

Colonel  Henry  L.  Cranford,  Engineer. 

Colonel  Henry  J.  Cullen,  Jr.,  Judge- Advocate. 


STATE  OF   THE  NATIONAL  GUAED  131 

Colonel  J.  M.  Homiston,  Surgeon. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  John  E.  Fay,  Ordnance 
Officer. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  P.  Gulick,  Quarter 
master. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Robert  B.  Woodward, 
Commissary  of  Subsistence. 

Major  Isaac  F.  Bissell,  A.  D.  C. 

Major  Francis  E.  Dodge,  A.  D.  C. 

Captain  H.  H.  Hogins,  A.  D.  C. 

Captain  J.  Milnor  Decker,  A.  D.  C. 

These  reunions  were  kept  up,  with  lessen 
ing  numbers,  for  twenty-one  years,  until  the 
time  of  the  General's  decease,  and  in  that 
year  two  of  the  ten  survivors  also  died. 

Upon  assuming  the  new  duties  to  which  he 
had  been  called  by  Governor  Tilden,  General 
Woodward  proceeded  to  apply  to  the  entire 
National  Guard  of  the  State  the  methods  that 
had  proven  successful  in  his  administration 
of  the  Second  Division.  The  experiences  of 
the  war  had  established  a  new  and  very  high 
standard  of  efficiency  for  every  military  or 
ganization.  The  condition  attained  by  the 


132  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

various  organizations  of  the  National  Guard 
was  supposed  to  be  ascertained  by  the  an 
nual  inspections.  The  fundamental  difficulty 
in  the  G-uard  at  this  time  was  that  the  in 
spections  were  in  a  military  sense  really  no 
inspections  at  all.  The  whole  organization 
was  largely  on  paper  and  heavily  over-offi 
cered.  Although  consisting  of  but  twenty- 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
men,  it  was  divided  into  eight  divisions  and 
nineteen  brigades.  These  in  turn  were  com 
posed  of  thirty  regiments  and  thirteen  battal 
ions  of  infantry,  one  regiment  and  nine  troops 
of  cavalry,  one  battalion  and  ten  batteries  of 
artillery.  The  Fourth  Division  at  one  time 
consisted  of  a  major-general,  his  full  staff,  a 
brigadier-general  and  full  staff,  and  one  bat 
talion  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  men, 
so  that  when  the  whole  division  paraded  the 
relation  between  the  number  of  commissioned 
officers  and  privates  was  ridiculous.  Each  of 
these  divisions  and  brigades  had  on  the  staff 
of  the  commanding  officer  an  inspector  who 
inspected  the  various  organizations  belonging 
to  his  own  command.  The  duty  of  an  inspec- 


MILITARY  REFORMS  133 

tor  is  one  that  requires  special  military  quali 
fications,  but  these  inspectors  were,  as  a  rule, 
appointed  for  social  and  personal  reasons.  It 
was  the  exception  when  one  possessed  mili 
tary  fitness  for  his  duties.  Each  of  them, 
therefore,  had  a  standard  of  efficiency  quite  in 
dependent  of  every  other.  Moreover,  there 
was  a  natural  inclination  on  the  part  of  each 
to  make  the  organization  to  which  he  belonged 
appear  as  well  as  possible  in  the  reports, 
and  for  that  reason  they  all  were  inclined  to 
gloss  over  deficiencies.  General  Woodward, 
during  the  first  years  in  his  position  as  In 
spector-General,  established  a  new  practice  by 
attending  in  person  the  various  inspections  of 
the  different  organizations  of  the  National 
Guard  of  the  State,  so  as  to  determine  with 
his  own  eyes  their  true  condition.  He  also 
exerted  all  his  influence  to  bring  about  a 
change  in  the  method  of  all  inspections.  In 
this  he  eventually  succeeded,  and  upon  his 
suggestion  a  law  was  passed  requiring  the  an 
nual  inspections  to  be  made  by  officers  in  the 
Inspector-General's  department,  in  accordance 
with  the  practice  in  the  regular  army,  a  rule 


134  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

which  is  still  continued.  This  was  one  of  the 
most  important  reforms  ever  effected  in  the 
National  Guard,  and  one  to  which  the  present 
high  standard  of  the  force  is  largely  due. 

General  Woodward  appointed  as  Assistant 
Inspectors  Colonel  John  E.  Fay  and  Major 
Thomas  A.  McGrath,  who  had  previously 
served  in  his  command,  and  thus  for  the 
first  time  general  headquarters  at  Albany 
were  fairly  informed  of  the  actual  merits  of 
the  different  organizations  comprising  the 
military  force  of  the  State. 

This  was  a  critical  period  in  the  history  of 
the  National  Guard.  The  nation  had  passed 
through  a  long  and  bloody  conflict  and  was 
tired  of  war.  War  stories  were  not  read, 
war  pictures  could  not  be  sold.  The  National 
Guard  shared  in  the  results  of  this  reaction. 
A  large  number  of  its  members  had  remained 
in  the  service  from  motives  of  patriotism  and 
for  a  number  of  years  had  held  themselves  in 
readiness  to  respond  to  sudden  orders  for  field 
service,  three  of  which  had  been  made  in  as 
many  years.  They  had  also  done  a  great  deal 
of  guard  and  riot  duty.  All  this  had  been 


MILITARY  REFORMS  135 

at  heavy  sacrifices,  and  when  the  emergency 
was  over  many  took  their  discharges.  To 
those  who  had  been  daily  reading  in  their 
newspapers  the  accounts  of  conflicts  involving 
from  ten  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand 
men  on  a  side,  militia  service  seemed  of  very 
little  consequence.  Recruits  were  therefore 
difficult  to  obtain  and  of  those  that  enlisted 
many  were  undesirable.  The  best  organiza 
tions  had  great  difficulty  in  maintaining  their 
strength  and  the  poorer  ones  became  demoral 
ized.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  increase  of 
interest  excited  by  the  introduction  of  rifle 
practice  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  might  have 
been  the  result.  The  thorough  inspections 
which  General  Woodward  required  disclosed 
which  of  the  various  organizations  of  the 
State  were  unable  to  stand  the  strain  of  the 
new  requirements.  Where  it  was  possible  to 
maintain  an  organization  by  fostering  care 
every  endeavor  was  made  to  do  so.  Where, 
however,  it  clearly  appeared  that  it  would 
waste  the  State's  money  to  attempt  to  con 
tinue  a  regiment  it  was  disbanded.  The  work 
of  deciding  upon  the  various  disbandments 


136  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

which  were  made,  of  getting  rid  of  incompe 
tent  and  superfluous  officers,  and  of  raising 
the  standard  of  those  organizations  which 
were  retained,  called  for  wisdom,  discretion, 
patience,  and  firmness. 

In  the  National  G-uard  there  was  then,  more 
even  than  there  is  at  present,  a  political  as 
well  as  a  military  side  to  be  considered.  Much 
depended  upon  the  ability  to  obtain  from  the 
legislature  the  indispensable  annual  appropria 
tions,  and  it  would  have  been  injudicious  to 
antagonize  that  body.  The  idea  of  the  ne 
cessity  of  military  efficiency  was  new.  Most 
of  the  major-generals  had  been  appointed  for 
political  reasons,  and  many  of  the  brigadiers 
were  better  politicians  than  soldiers.  Conse 
quently  the  authorities  at  Albany  were  ex 
ceedingly  timid  in  regard  to  interfering  with 
organizations  or  officers  thought  to  possess 
political  strength.  General  Woodward  was 
tactful  and  sagacious  in  his  measures  for  im 
proving  the  Guard,  and  his  consolidation  of 
the  force  was  done  by  degrees  and  with  such 
obvious  fairness  and  good  judgment  that  but 
little  resentment  was  excited.  One  method 


MILITARY  REFORMS  137 

which  he  pursued  with  great  success,  where 
the  condition  of  a  regiment  or  battalion  in  a 
smaller  town  or  city  was  such  as  did  not  jus 
tify  its  continuance,  was  the  organization  in 
its  place  of  a  "separate  company"  from  the 
best  material  of  the  disbanded  regiment. 
This  company  generally  embraced  the  best 
young  men  of  the  place,  and  the  substitution 
for  an  inefficient  regiment  of  a  strong,  well- 
drilled  company,  composed  of  first-class  ma 
terial,  proved  popular  as  well  as  effective.  It 
added  greatly  to  the  actual  military  strength 
of  the  State,  and  these  separate  companies 
have  since  done  excellent  service.  If  he  had 
been  permitted  by  others  in  authority  General 
Woodward  would  have  applied  the  pruning- 
knife  much  more  thoroughly  than  he  did.  As 
it  was,  besides  the  substantial  reform  he  ac 
tually  accomplished,  he  prepared  the  way  for 
consolidations  and  disbandments  which  were 
subsequently  effected.  The  General  also  did 
much  to  trace  up  the  military  property  of  the 
State,  which  was  scattered  in  many  places, 
and  to  establish  regulations  for  properly  car 
ing  and  accounting  for  it. 

18 


138  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Immediately  upon  General  Woodward's  ap 
pointment  as  Inspector-General  he  determined 
to  promote  throughout  the  entire  National 
Guard  the  rifle  practice  he  had  so  successfully 
introduced  in  the  Second  Division.  Super 
vision  of  rifle  practice  was  at  that  time  one 
of  the  Inspector-General's  duties,  under  an  act 
which  had  been  passed  the  preceding  year, 
but  nothing  of  any  consequence  had  been  ac 
complished.  General  Woodward  tendered  the 
position  of  General  Inspector  of  rifle  practice 
to  George  W.  Wingate,  who  accepted  the  posi 
tion,  and  thereafter  the  General  did  every 
thing  in  his  power  to  assist  that  officer  in  his 
special  work.  General  Wingate  states  that  it 
is  almost  entirely  owing  to  the  constant  sup 
port  of  General  Woodward,  not  only  at  the 
time  when  rifle  practice  was  directly  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Inspector-General,  but 
subsequently,  when  it  was  made  into  an  inde 
pendent  department,  that  the  new  movement 
attained  such  success  that  the  National  Guard 
of  New  York  decidedly  surpassed  the  regular 
army  in  effectiveness  with  the  rifle. 

When  Governor  Tilden  retired  from  office 


EAILWAY  RIOTS  CHECKED  139 

his  successor,  Governor  Bobinson,  reap- 
pointed  General  Woodward  Inspector-Gen 
eral.  It  was  during  the  incumbency  of  Gov 
ernor  Eobinson  that  the  riots  broke  out  along 
the  line  of  the  Erie  Railway  which  necessi 
tated  calling  out  the  National  Guard  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  June,  1877.  The  entire  duty 
of  the  collection  and  disposition  of  the  force 
and  the  suppression  of  the  disorder  was  con 
ferred  upon  the  Inspector-General.  In  this 
matter  General  Woodward  showed  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  proper  forces  to  be  brought 
into  service,  great  executive  ability  in  assem 
bling  and  handling  them,  firmness  in  dealing 
with  the  elements  of  disorder,  and  fine  discre 
tion  in  avoiding  embarrassing  negotiations  in 
which  both  parties  to  the  great  strike  endea 
vored  to  involve  him.  So  sudden  and  unex 
pected  was  the  appearance  of  the  National 
Guard  at  Hornellsville  and  other  points  where 
the  disorder  had  broken  out,  and  so  stunning 
was  the  arrest  of  ringleaders  who  were  coun 
seling  violence,  that  the  thousands  of  men 
who  had  gathered,  intent  on  mischief,  almost 
immediately  abandoned  their  unlawful  pro- 


140  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

jects.  General  Woodward's  official  report, 
dated  the  third  of  July,  says,  "When  it  was 
learned  that  the  troops  were  actually  on  the 
way  and  would  soon  be  on  the  ground  several 
classes  of  employees  sent  formal  notice  to  the 
General  Superintendent  of  the  railroad  that 
they  would  continue  to  perform  their  duties 
under  the  reduction  of  pay  which  had  been 
ordered,  and  gave  assurances  which  were 
deemed  satisfactory  that  no  breach  of  the 
peace  would  occur."  Thereupon  the  military 
forces  were  dismissed  and  returned  to  their 
homes.  It  is  obvious  that  although  the 
prompt  action  of  Governor  Robinson  in  or 
dering  out  the  troops,  and  the  vigorous  and 
skilful  dispositions  of  General  Woodward  in 
maintaining  order  at  Hornellsville,  where  the 
trouble  began,  entirely  suppressed  the  out 
break,  a  feeling  of  bitter  disappointment  re 
mained  in  the  minds  of  thousands  of  railway 
employees  at  many  points;  for  it  was  only 
about  three  weeks  afterward  when  Governor 
Robinson  again  telegraphed  to  General  Wood 
ward,  "  Riots  have  broken  out  at  Hornellsville. 
Please  proceed  to  that  point  at  once."  Gen- 


SECOND  OUTBREAK  SUPPRESSED  141 

eral  Woodward,  in  his  report  of  the  military 
movements  on  this  occasion,  dated  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  July,  1877,  states  that  he  received 
this  telegram  at  his  office  in  New  York  at 
half-past  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Sat 
urday,  July  twenty-first.  On  the  same  day  a 
regiment  of  the  National  Guard  was  ordered 
to  proceed  to  Hornellsville  at  once,  well  sup 
plied  with  bullet  cartridges.  The  official  order 
to  General  Woodward  said,  "You  will  have 
the  direction  of  the  movements  of  the  troops 
as  before."  General  Woodward  was  soon  on 
the  way  to  the  scene  of  disorder.  The  Gen 
eral's  official  report  goes  on  to  say:  "At  El- 
mira  His  Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chief 
entered  the  train  and  gave  verbal  instructions 
to  locate  sufficient  force  at  Hornellsville  to 
insure  success,  leaving  me  full  discretion  to 
select  such  commands  as  would  in  my  judg 
ment  be  the  most  efficient."  Before  the  trou 
ble  was  over  regiments  had  been  called  out 
from  all  over  the  State,  and  so  swiftly  did 
they  appear,  in  such  impressive  numbers,  and 
so  admirable  was  their  disposition  and  so 
prompt  their  movements,  that,  although  the 


142  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

riots  extended  from  one  end  of  the  State  to 
the  other,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  disorderly  elements  were  much  better  or 
ganized  than  the  rioters  who  wrought  such 
havoc  at  Pittsburg  and  for  some  time  suc 
ceeded  in  defying  the  militia  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  the  thousands  of  turbulent  men  were 
dispersed  and  the  whole  affair  was  over  in 
less  than  a  week,  and  on  the  twenty-sixth 
of  July,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
General  Woodward  notified  the  Governor 
that  he  believed  it  prudent  to  allow  the  mili 
tary  forces  to  be  relieved.  On  the  same  day 
the  Governor  telegraphed  as  follows: 

ALBANY,  July  26th. 
GENEEAL  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD, 

I  have  just  received  your  telegram.  I  con 
gratulate  you  upon  your  success.  Accept  for 
yourself  and  the  gallant  men  of  your  com 
mand  the  thanks  of  the  Empire  State.  You 
may  relieve  the  different  regiments  whenever 
in  your  discretion  it  seems  prudent  to  do  so. 

L.  EOBINSON, 
Governor  &  Commander-in-Chief. 


APPOINTED  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  143 

After  paying  generous  tributes  to  the  Guard 
and  to  several  officers  who  had  large  oppor 
tunities  for  distinguishing  themselves  General 
Woodward  closes  his  report  as  follows :  "  It  is 
proper  for  me  to  report  that  I  took  no  part 
whatever  in  the  conferences  with  the  strikers. 
.  .  .  At  the  same  time  I  feel  that  the  National 
Guard  rendered  a  most  valuable  service  to 
the  State,  and  that  their  presence  saved  the 
County  of  Steuben  the  cost  of  the  destruction 
of  many  millions  of  dollars  of  valuable  prop 
erty."  This  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  ser 
vice  rendered  is  fully  justified  by  a  considera 
tion  of  the  damage  done  at  Pittsburg. 

In  April,  1879,  Governor  Robinson  ap 
pointed  General  Woodward  Adjutant-General 
of  the  State.  His  duties  in  this  position  took 
him  away  from  his  business  a  great  deal  and 
required  him  to  spend  some  days  of  every 
week  in  Albany.  The  theory  of  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  State  is  that  the  Governor  is  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  its  military  forces,  but  as 
very  few  governors  have  ever  had  any  mili 
tary  knowledge  or  experience,  the  practice  of 
the  constitutional  commander-in-chief  is  to 


144  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

select  for  the  position  of  Adjutant-General 
a  person  thoroughly  qualified  to  take  actual 
command.  Therefore  General  Woodward  had 
now  become  in  fact  the  commander  of  the  Na 
tional  Guard  of  the  Empire  State.  The  exer 
tions  he  had  made  while  Inspector-General  to 
improve  all  branches  of  the  service  were  now 
resumed  with  redoubled  energy  and  enthusi 
asm.  The  measures  he  inaugurated  and  en 
forced  show  that,  while  he  was  not  oblivious 
of  the  distinctions  between  a  militia  force 
composed  of  citizens  whose  main  time  is  de 
voted  to  their  usual  vocations  and  a  body  of 
regular  troops  who  have  given  up  all  other 
callings  and  enlisted  for  military  service  alone, 
he  proposed  to  have  every  member  of  the 
National  Guard  understand  and  fully  realize 
that  service  in  the  Guard  was  a  serious  mat 
ter  imposing  grave  responsibilities  and  in 
volving  discipline,  subordination,  and  obedi 
ence  to  officers.  Some  of  the  measures  he 
enforced  seemed  to  many  almost  too  severe 
for  a  body  of  citizen  soldiery,  but  before  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  his  wisdom  was 
universally  conceded;  and  long  after  it  was 


STATE  MILITARY  ASSOCIATION  REFORMED      145 

the  consensus  of  testimony  on  the  part  of 
those  in  positions  to  intelligently  judge  the 
matter  that  General  Woodward  had  been  of 
more  value  to  the  State  in  matters  relating  to 
the  National  Guard  than  any  other  man  who 
had  ever  been  associated  with  the  military 
branch  of  the  government.  Indeed,  even  now 
this  fact  is  more  than  a  tradition  and  is  recog 
nized  by  those  who  were  familiar  with  matters 
at  the  time  of  General  Woodward's  service 
and  who  have  continued  to  take  an  interest 
in  the  Guard. 

One  of  the  last  reforms  effected  during  the 
General's  command  was  in  the  State  Military 
Association.  This  was  an  organization  con 
sisting  of  the  officers  of  the  National  Guard  of 
the  State.  It  held  an  annual  meeting  at  Al 
bany  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  matters 
affecting  the  interests  of  the  Guard.  Theo 
retically  it  was  valuable;  practically  it  was 
not.  Its  constitution  was  democratic,  not  mil 
itary.  Every  officer  who  chose  to  attend  its 
convention  was  at  liberty  to  do  so;  at  its 
meetings  a  second-lieutenant  stood  upon  the 
same  footing  as  a  major-general ;  and  if  a  sin- 

19 


146  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

gle  organization  chose  to  send  up  a  sufficient 
number  of  officers  as  delegates  it  might  domi 
nate  the  proceedings.  In  point  of  fact  the 
attendance  was  largely  due  to  the  custom  of 
various  Adjutant-Generals  of  holding  recep 
tions  to  the  officers  of  the  National  Guard 
throughout  the  State.  General  Woodward 
had  been  president  of  the  Association  and  was 
thoroughly  familiar  with  its  defects.  He  was 
equally  sure  of  its  having  possibilities  of  use 
fulness.  Mainly  through  his  influence  the 
constitution  of  the  Association  was  amended 
so  that  it  was  made  up  of  delegates  appointed 
by  the  different  organizations  upon  a  plan 
which  gave  each  its  proper  representation, 
and  as  the  consideration  of  military  questions 
became  the  chief  purpose  of  the  conventions 
the  delegates  were  selected  for  their  fitness  to 
intelligently  participate  in  the  discussions,  and 
thus  for  the  first  time  the  organization  ex 
ercised  a  salutary  influence. 

General  Woodward  held  the  position  of  Ad 
jutant-General  until,  by  the  expiration  of  Gov 
ernor  Robinson's  term  of  office,  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  December,  1879,  his  own  term  also 


RETIRED  FROM  ACTIVE  SERVICE  147 

expired.  Governor  Cleveland  subsequently 
invited  General  Woodward  to  accept  the 
office  of  Adjutant-General,  but  by  that  time 
he  had  become  so  much  engrossed  in  civil 
pursuits,  and  he  had  already  given  so  much 
of  himself  to  military  service,  that  he  felt 
justified  in  declining  the  honor.  Therefore 
on  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  Chief  of 
Staff  to  Governor  Robinson  his  official  rela 
tion  to  the  military  force  of  the  State  termi 
nated.  He  continued  to  take  a  deep  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Guard,  and  his  experience 
and  sound  judgment  were  often  consulted  by 
commanding  officers.  He  was  always  especi 
ally  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  the  Brooklyn 
regiments,  and  retained  to  the  last  a  warm 
affection  for  the  Thirteenth.  If  measures 
of  discipline  were  considered,  both  officers 
and  men  were  accustomed  to  go  to  the  old 
commander  of  the  regiment  for  that  good- 
tempered  counsel  which  never  failed  to  find 
the  most  amicable  and  yet  soldierly  way  out 
of  embarrassing  conditions.  When  concerts, 
fairs,  and  exhibitions  were  undertaken  for  the 
benefit  of  the  regiment  General  Woodward  was 


148  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

always  the  first  and  most  generous  contributor 
and  patron.  It  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to 
say  that  for  many  of  the  veterans  who  had 
seen  active  service  under  him,  and  for  their 
families,  he  conducted,  up  to  the  time  of  his 
decease,  a  pension  bureau  of  which  he  alone 
and  the  recipients  of  his  benefactions  had 
knowledge.  Occasionally  the  gratitude  of 
some  old  soldier,  or  of  some  member  of  a  sol 
dier's  family,  disclosed,  what  the  General's 
friends  had  always  suspected,  that  he  never 
refused  aid  to  the  needy  and  deserving  and 
that  his  contributions  in  this  way  amounted 
to  very  large  sums. 

The  military  branch  of  the  government  of 
New  York  State  has  comprised  on  its  official 
roster  many  men  of  eminence  and  distinction. 
None  of  them  possessed  genuine  military  abil 
ity  superior  to  that  displayed  by  John  B. 
Woodward.  He  held  the  highest  trusts,  and 
it  may  safely  he  asserted  that  in  the  entire 
history  of  the  service  no  man  has  been  of 
more  real  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  force. 


VI 

"THE  MOST  USEFUL  CITIZEN  OF  BROOKLYN" 

LTHOUGH  General  Woodward's  military 
service  was  now  ended  he  was  still  a 
young  man,  and  the  abundance  of  his  energy 
and  public  spirit  was  at  once,  and  always 
after,  freely  given  in  the  support  of  all  causes 
that  enlisted  the  interest  of  good  citizens,  and 
was  especially  potent  in  all  movements  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  conditions  of  life  in  Brook 
lyn.  Mr.  A.  Augustus  Healy,  who  succeeded 
General  Woodward  as  President  of  the  Brooklyn 
Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  said,  in  a  pub 
lic  address,  "  He  was  a  thorough  Brooklynite, 
heartily  loyal  to  the  city  and  remarkable 
among  men  for  the  readiness  and  cheerfulness 
with  which  he  spent  his  energy  and  time  and 
means  in  promoting  movements  which  he  be 
lieved  for  the  public  good.  This  continued 
throughout  his  life.  He  was  never  weary  in 


149 


150  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

well  doing.  His  devotion  to  the  public  welfare 
and  his  activity  in  advancing  it  sprang  from 
a  strong  and  generous  impulse  innate  in  the 
man.  .  .  .  Men  often  act  from  mixed  motives 
while  doing  praiseworthy  acts;  General  Wood 
ward  seemed  animated  wholly  and  singly  by  a 
desire,  which  was  almost  a  passion  with  him, 
to  promote  those  things  which  should  make 
for  the  welfare  of  all  the  people.  He  was  more 
fully  and  genuinely,  I  think,  than  any  other 
man  I  have  ever  known,  a  public-spirited  citi 
zen.  ...  So  far  as  my  observation  extends  we 
have  never  had  a  man  who,  during  the  whole 
period  of  his  life,  was  so  genuinely,  continu 
ously,  and  disinterestedly  public-spirited  as 
was  General  Woodward." 

The  only  public  office  carrying  salary  or 
emolument  which  he  ever  held  was  that  of 
President  of  the  Department  of  City  Works, 
to  which  he  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Hunter 
early  in  1875,  and  this  he  resigned  before  the 
close  of  that  year.  Although  he  was  ex 
tremely  active  in  all  associations  undertaking 
to  affect  the  affairs  of  the  city,  he  held  no 
other  official  position  for  many  years.  In 


AN  ACTIVE  CITIZEN  151 

politics  he  chose  the  Democratic  party  as  most 
nearly  representing  his  own  views  and  prin 
ciples,  but  in  local  matters  he  was  always 
independent.  In  affairs  where  men  were 
not  divided  by  political  sentiments  it  was 
so  natural  to  expect  his  support,  and  his  co 
operation  was  so  freely  and  so  often  given, 
that  it  seldom  occurred  to  any  one  to  keep  a 
record  of  services  he  rendered  in  such  mat 
ters,  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  present 
an  adequate  statement  of  his  activities  in  civil 
life.  There  are,  however,  records  of  many  in 
stances  where  he  was  useful  and  in  most  of 
which  he  was  a  leader.  The  first  plans  for  an 
elevated  railroad  in  Fulton  Street  were  by 
judicial  action  referred  to  a  commission  of 
citizens  for  careful  consideration,  and  General 
Woodward  was  appointed  on  this  commission. 
The  result  of  this  reference  was  a  condemnation 
of  the  original  plans,  and,  therefore,  a  substi 
tution  of  others  less  injurious  to  the  thorough 
fare  and  the  abutting  property.  Subsequently 
he  was  appointed  on  a  commission  to  appraise 
the  damages  to  the  property  caused  by  the 
building  of  the  elevated  structure  and  the 


152  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

operation  of  the  railroad.  In  1872  he  was  one 
of  a  committee  of  citizens  organized  for  the 
purpose  of  endeavoring  to  secure  reforms  in 
the  municipal  government.  The  special  object 
of  distrust  was  a  department  called  the  Water 
Board.  The  General  served  on  a  sub-commit 
tee  for  examining  the  books  and  accounts  of 
that  department.  Probably  he  undertook  his 
task  with  a  presumption  that  affairs  in  the  de 
partment  were  not  altogether  as  they  should 
be,  but  the  natural  and  undeviating  purpose 
to  deal  justly  led  to  his  reporting  that,  so  far 
as  the  books  and  accounts  were  concerned, 
they  were  correct  in  form  and  unassailable. 
This  report  was  received  with  disappoint 
ment  by  those  who  were  more  anxious  to  find 
evidence  in  support  of  their  preconceived 
convictions  than  to  be  just  to  those  who  were 
under  public  suspicion,  but  the  report  of  the 
sub-committee  was  evidently  accepted  as  con 
clusive  by  the  community.  In  1880  he  united 
in  the  civil  service  reform  movement  and  in 
1883  was  elected  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of 
the  Brooklyn  association  organized  to  promote 
that  cause,  which  office  he  held  until  his  death. 


IN  REFORM  MOVEMENTS  153 

The  secretary  of  the  association,  in  a  letter, 
says,  "  I  remember  that  in  early  years  he  was 
often  the  only  one  of  the  vice-presidents  pres 
ent  at  meetings  of  the  executive  committee.  I 
always  found  him  interested  and  sympathetic 
with  our  work."  In  1885  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Hill  member  of  a  commission  to  in 
vestigate  charges  against  the  management  of 
Greenwood  Cemetery,  his  associate  commis 
sioners  being  Mr.  Samuel  D.  Babcock  and 
Mr.  Spencer  Trask.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of 
April  the  commission  made  a  report  vindicat 
ing  the  management. 

In  1883  a  number  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  public-spirited  men  of  the  city  began  a 
movement  which  resulted,  early  the  next  year, 
in  the  organization  of  "  The  Brooklyn  Citizens' 
League,"  the  main  purpose  of  which  was  "  per 
manently  to  secure  non-partizan  municipal 
government  for  Brooklyn."  Numerous  meet 
ings  were  held  to  inculcate  that  teaching  in 
various  sections  of  the  city,  and  much  defer 
ence  was  paid  to  the  League,  in  the  autumn  of 
1884,  by  the  local  nominating  conventions  of 
both  the  national  parties.  The  League  pro- 

20 


154  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

posed  several  timely  reforms  in  the  govern 
ment  of  the  city  and  county,  and  originated 
bills  abolishing  the  costly  fee  system  that 
prevailed  in  the  offices  of  the  County  Reg 
ister  and  the  Sheriff.  These  bills  were  ac 
tively  supported  before  legislative  committees, 
and  one  of  them  was  passed  by  both  houses  of 
the  legislature,  but  afterwards  encountered  the 
veto  of  the  Governor.  For  some  years  the 
League  gave  special  care  to  all  bills  affect 
ing  Brooklyn  pending  in  the  State  legislature, 
supporting  those  that  were  good,  opposing 
those  that  were  bad,  and  laboring  in  a  most 
practical  way  for  the  amendment  of  those  that 
were  not  altogether  bad  and  that  were  sus 
ceptible  of  being  made  of  public  benefit.  A 
gentleman  who  has  held  high  official  position 
in  the  city  government,  and  who  was  one  of 
the  most  influential  members  of  the  Citizens' 
League,  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
this  movement  really  originated  with  General 
Woodward  and  that  he  was  the  first  person 
who  at  that  time  perceived  and  asserted  the 
desirability  of  separating  municipal  affairs 
from  national  politics.  This,  however,  was 


NOMINATED  FOE  MAYOR  155 

not  the  General's  first  demonstration  of  po 
litical  independence  and  civic  courage,  for  he 
had  opposed  the  nominees  of  his  own  party 
and  zealously  supported  the  candidacy  of 
Seth  Low  in  both  that  gentleman's  successful 
contests  for  the  mayoralty. 

General  Woodward's  public  spirit  and  as 
pirations  for  improvement  in  the  municipal 
government  were  most  conspicuously  dis 
played  in  the  fall  of  1885.  The  nominations 
for  city  officers  made  by  the  regular  con 
ventions  of  the  Republican  and  Democratic 
parties  were,  either  in  the  character  of  the 
nominees  or  the  circumstances  that  led  to 
their  nominations,  such  as  to  convince  ob 
servant  men  that  the  election  of  either  candi 
date  for  mayor  would  result  in  unsatisfactory 
administration.  Many  citizens  felt  that  they 
could  not  vote  for  either  candidate  and  that 
they  ought  to  nominate  a  man  who  should 
be  in  character  and  environment  free  from 
the  criticisms  applicable  to  the  nominees  of 
the  two  national  party  organizations.  Having 
been  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  indeed  the  first, 
advocate  of  non-partizanship,  and  as  most  sat- 


156  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

isfactorily  representing  the  sentiment  for  re 
form,  General  Woodward  was  selected.  He 
was  extremely  reluctant  to  become  a  candi 
date  and  accepted  only  upon  being  persuaded 
by  many  of  his  friends  that  he  was  the  most 
conspicuously  fit  man  to  stand  for  the  princi 
ples  he  had  long  advocated.  His  letter  ac 
cepting  the  nomination  tendered  him  under 
these  circumstances  was  a  model  and  a  com 
pendium  of  the  right  view  of  the  duties  of  a 
mayor  of  Brooklyn  at  the  time  of  this  candi 
dacy.  It  was  lucid  and  luminous.  It  went  into 
a  discussion  of  the  matters  that  were  excit 
ing  special  attention,  and  the  keynote  of  the 
whole  communication  was  contained  in  the 
following  passage :  "  My  belief  is  fixed  that  na 
tional  politics  have  no  proper  place  in  matters 
of  mere  municipal  concern.  The  control  of 
business  and  the  administration  of  a  city 
should  be  in  its  own  citizens,  and  our  State 
Constitution  should  be  so  amended  as  to  free 
each  city  from  interference  or  dictation  at  the 
State  capital.  When  each  citizen  clearly  un 
derstands  that  he  must  get  good  government 
for  Brooklyn  by  his  own  work  at  the  polls  of 


A  SPEECH  157 

Brooklyn,  and  that  no  relief  can  be  obtained 
from  Albany,  good  local  government  will  be 
permanently  secured."  The  General's  brief 
addresses  delivered  in  many  parts  of  the  city 
were  full  of  a  lofty  civic  patriotism.  At  one 
of  the  meetings  the  General  made  a  speech 
which  may  be  quoted  as  fairly  stating  his  own 
position  and  his  relation  to  the  canvass.  It  is 
as  follows :  "  Fellow-Citizens :  I  hardly  .know 
how  to  commence  at  all.  Here  is  the  city  of 
my  birth.  I  have  never  known  any  home  but 
Brooklyn,  and  here  I  hope  to  end  my  days. 
From  the  hour  of  my  birth  till  now  I  never 
had  ambition  to  be  a  leader  among  men  or 
take  official  position,  but  when  more  than  one 
thousand  of  my  fellow-citizens  called  me  to 
take  this  nomination  I  felt  the  duty  of  my 
citizenship  to  be  that  I  should  answer  the  call. 
In  this  spirit  alone  I  enter  the  canvass.  (Ap 
plause.)  I  don't  pose  as  a  reformer  or  present 
unusual  claims  for  your  votes.  I  appear  as  a 
plain  citizen,  before  my  fellow  citizens,  and  if 
you  see  fit  to  elect  me  as  your  mayor  my  plat 
form  shall  be  to  work  for  Brooklyn  first,  last, 
and  all  the  time.  (Applause.)  I  see  no  rea- 


158  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

son  why,  in  the  management  of  the  city  gov 
ernment,  any  of  our  employees  should  be 
turned  adrift  and  a  new  set  of  men  put  in 
their  places  by  a  change  of  administration. 
If  I  am  elected  no  man  need  feel  any  anxiety 
for  his  place  providing  he  is  doing  his  duty 
faithfully,  but  if  he  does  not  do  his  duty  he 
cannot  summon  friends  enough  to  keep  him 
there.  (Applause.)  If  I  go  into  the  mayor 
alty  office  it  shall  be  to  loyally  enforce  the 
civil  service  rules.  We  tax  ourselves  to  keep 
our  streets  in  order,  to  light  them,  and  for  a 
thousand  and  one  items.  Why  not  spend  our 
money  as  we  would  in  our  private  affairs? 
The  city  should  receive  one  hundred  cents  of 
value  for  every  dollar  expended.  I  believe  I 
can  be  partizan  in  national  matters,  but  what 
does  the  coinage  of  silver  have  to  do  with 
matters  here?  If  I  did  not  believe  the  city 
could  be  run  on  non-partizan  principles  I 
would  never  have  appeared  before  you  as  a 
candidate.  I  hope  we  shall  go  on  this  idea 
and  be  successful.  This  movement  means 
non-partizanship  in  municipal  affairs."  The 
General's  candidacy  was  supported  by  the 


RESULT  OF  THE  ELECTION  159 

Hon.  Seth  Low,  who  had  twice  filled  the  of 
fice  of  mayor  with  peculiar  honor  and  dis 
tinction.  Many  of  the  most  conspicuous  Re 
publicans  were  ranged  on  the  same  side,  and 
perhaps  the  most  impressive  incident  of  the 
whole  campaign  was  the  resolution  of  the 
renowned  Young  Republican  Club  to  support 
the  candidacy  of  General  Woodward.  It  is  no 
disparagement  of  the  masses  whose  votes  were 
divided  between  the  two  great  parties  to  say 
that  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  both  parties 
supported  this  independent  candidacy,  and  al 
though  the  brief  period  between  his  nomina 
tion  and  the  day  of  election  was  insufficient 
for  perfecting  an  organization  for  the  G-en- 
eraPs  support  over  the  entire  city,  nearly  four 
teen  thousand  ballots  were  cast  in  his  favor. 
He  himself  was  neither  surprised  nor  disap 
pointed  that  he  failed  of  election,  but  he  was 
satisfied  because  he  had  been  able  to  afford 
those  who  believed  in  his  principle  of  non- 
partizanship  in  municipal  government  a  can 
didate  and  a  ticket  to  vote  for.  While  his 
championship  of  the  reform  cause  was  hearty 
and  earnest,  the  entire  kindliness  of  his  man- 


160  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ner  and  his  abstention  from  offensive  personal 
attacks  enabled  him  to  avoid  causing  rank 
ling  wounds  among  his  opponents,  and  it  is 
scarcely  too  much  to  declare  that  within  a 
week  after  the  election  he  was  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  city. 

Indeed,  during  the  subsequent  period  of  his 
life  no  movement  for  the  improvement  of 
commercial  or  social  conditions  in  Brooklyn 
seemed  completely  organized  until  it  had  se 
cured  the  support  of  General  Woodward,  not 
a  difficult  matter;  and  the  same  statement  is 
true  to  a  measurable  extent  of  affairs  in  New 
York  City.  It  would  be  little  if  any  exaggera 
tion  to  say  that  in  these  years  there  was  no 
such  movement  in  his  own  town  to  which  he 
did  not  lend  counsel  and  active  participation, 
and  that  his  capacities  and  generosity  made 
him  a  leader  in  most  of  the  affairs  in  which  he 
was  engaged. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stone  of  the  Egyptian  obelisk  in  Central  Park  he 
served  as  aid  on  the  staff  of  the  marshal  of  the 
imposing  ceremonies.  At  that  time  there  were 
many  of  his  friends  who  had  forgotten  that  he 


A  FREE  MASON  161 

was  a  member  of  the  ancient  and  honorable  or 
der  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  but  although 
he  had  ceased  to  be  active  in  the  order,  he  had 
continued  to  take  an  interest  in  its  welfare.  It 
was  in  June,  1857,  that  he  was  made  a  Mason 
in  Benevolent  Lodge  No.  28  of  New  York.  On 
the  twenty-second  of  February  in  the  next 
year  he  united  with  Phoenix  Chapter  No.  2, 
Royal  Arch  Masons.  Subsequently  he  trans 
ferred  his  lodge  membership  to  Brooklyn,  unit 
ing  with  Commonwealth  No.  409,  in  January, 
1859,  in  which  lodge  he  continued  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  For  some  time  after  uniting 
with  the  order  he  took  an  active  part  in  its 
work,  but,  as  just  intimated,  in  later  years  he 
seldom  did  more  than  attend  the  meetings, 
although  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  was 
summoned  to  assist  in  important  functions. 

When  Brooklyn  was  preparing  for  suitable 
entertainment  of  the  Society  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  in  1884,  on  the  occasion  of  its 
annual  convocation,  General  Woodward  was 
made  secretary  of  the  committee  on  behalf  of 
the  city  and  was  treasurer  of  the  fund  raised. 

Preserved  among  his  papers  is  a  letter  of  the 
21 


162  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Mayor  expressing  his  own  thanks  for  the  Gen 
eral's  services  in  that  matter  and  communicat 
ing  the  formal  vote  of  thanks  of  the  Common 
Council.  The  gratitude  of  the  veterans  had 
been  less  formally  but  most  cordially  indicated. 

In  1889,  on  General  Woodward's  birthday,  a 
large  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Brooklyn  was 
held  to  express  sympathy  for  the  people  of 
Johnstown,  Pennsylvania,  which  city  had  just 
been  almost  entirely  swept  away  by  a  flood. 
It  was  resolved  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  relief 
of  the  sufferers.  The  Rev.  T.  DeWitt  Tal- 
mage  was  elected  president  of  the  association 
for  this  purpose  and  General  Woodward  was 
elected  treasurer.  About  ninety-six  thousand 
dollars  were  raised  in  Brooklyn  and  were 
quickly  expended  in  the  most  wise  and  care 
ful  manner. 

When  Christendom  was  aroused  by  the  out 
rages  committed  upon  the  Armenian  Christ 
ians,  in  1895,  and  the  leading  men  of  Brooklyn 
united,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
their  abhorrence  of  the  crimes,  but  also  to 
contribute  for  the  relief  of  the  Armenians  who 
had  been  spared  from  murder,  General  Wood- 


INTEREST  IN  AET  163 

ward  was  again  elected  treasurer  of  the  funds 
collected  among  his  fellow-citizens. 

It  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  few,  perhaps  of 
none,  to  be  able  to  do  so  much  as  General 
Woodward  did  toward  the  cultivation  of  a 
taste  for  art,  and  to  popularize  art,  in  the  city 
of  Brooklyn.  Although  he  had  no  especial 
eminence  in  any  department  of  criticism,  and 
while  he  was  not  a  patron,  as  that  term  is 
applied  to  buyers,  he  was  fond  of  art  and  was 
appreciative  and  discriminating  in  his  obser 
vation.  He  had  traveled  extensively  in  Eu 
rope,  thereby  enlarging  his  knowledge  and 
improving  his  taste,  and  wherever  he  went  his 
thoughts  reverted  to  his  native  city  and  his 
desire  was  that  Brooklyn  should  become  a 
center  of  knowledge  and  of  culture  in  the  arts. 
For  years  he  had  experienced  delight  in  his 
membership  in  the  Rembrandt  Club,  which 
has  done  so  much  for  art  in  Brooklyn.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Art  Asso 
ciation  and  for  several  years  was  its  President. 
Partly  as  a  lover  of  art,  partly  because  it  grat 
ified  him  to  contribute  toward  any  measure 
for  the  decoration  of  his  city,  partly  on  ac- 


164  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

count  of  the  satisfaction  it  afforded  him  to 
aid  in  commemorating  the  virtues  of  men  who 
had  been  useful  in  the  community,  he  was 
especially  active  in  promoting  the  erection  of 
monuments  to  those  who  had  been  illustrious 
in  their  times.  When  a  citizen  presented  a 
bust  of  Washington  Irving  to  the  city  General 
Woodward  was  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
arrangements  at  the  unveiling  of  the  bust  in 
Prospect  Park.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  popular  movement  for  the  erection  of  the 
bronze  memorial  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of 
citizens  who  placed  the  bronze  statue  of  the 
Hon.  J.  S.  T.  Stranahan  in  Prospect  Park,  and 
was  treasurer  of  the  funds  expended  in  that 
affair.  It  was  solely  due  to  his  early  appreci 
ation  of  the  merits  of  Frederick  MacMonnies, 
and  to  his  tactful  insistence,  that  this  brilliant 
man  received  the  commission  for  the  Strana 
han  statue.  It  must  have  been  a  peculiar  sat 
isfaction  to  General  Woodward,  and  it  was 
certainly  a  vindication  of  his  recommendation 
of  an  artist,  that,  when  calling  to  order  the 
people  who  had  assembled  to  witness  the  un- 


MUNICIPAL  OFFICES  165 

veiling  of  the  statue,  the  General  was  able  to 
make  the  first  public  announcement  that  the 
French  Salon  had  conferred  upon  Mr.  Mac- 
Monnies  the  gold  medal  of  honor  for  his  ar 
tistic  success  in  this  work.  Later  General 
Woodward  took  a  leading  part,  if  not  the 
leading  part,  in  the  measures  which  resulted 
in  a  commission  being  given  to  Mr.  MacMon- 
nies  for  an  equestrian  statue  of  Henry  W.  Slo- 
cum,  one  of  the  most  successful  generals  in 
the  war  for  the  Union,  and  perhaps  the  most 
eminent  soldier  of  all  those  who  went  out 
from  Brooklyn. 

After  the  canvass  of  1885  General  Wood 
ward  was  not  again  a  candidate  for  the  suf 
frages  of  the  people,  but  when  it  seemed  to  be 
his  duty  he  at  times  accepted  public  office,  to 
which  he  was  often  called  by  appointment,  in 
the  hope  of  being  thus  of  the  greatest  possible 
service  to  his  fellow-townsmen.  In  June,  1888, 
Mayor  Chapin  made  him  President  of  the 
Department  of  Parks.  In  that  office  he  dis 
played  to  an  eminent  degree  the  best  senti 
ments  and  the  highest  talents  of  an  adminis 
trator  of  municipal  affairs.  Prospect  Park, 


166  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

not  through  the  fault  of  those  in  its  charge, 
but  owing  to  insufficient  appropriations,  had 
for  years  been  falling  into  disorder,  and  the 
small  parks  of  the  city  were  in  even  a  worse 
plight.  General  Woodward  took  especial 
pains  with  the  small  parks  and  succeeded  in 
having  them  brought  back  to  conditions  of  re 
pair  and  attractiveness.  Mainly  through  his 
own  direct  efforts  the  working  force  of  Pros 
pect  Park  was  changed,  reorganized,  and 
greatly  improved  in  efficiency,  and  during  his 
presidency  some  of  the  most  substantial  and 
important  adornments  of  that  park  which  are 
now  the  pride  of  the  city  were  begun.  At 
that  time  the  park  commission  consisted  of 
eight  members.  General  Woodward  lent  his 
support  to  a  proposal  for  legislating  the  com 
mission  out  of  existence  and  creating  a  com 
mission  of  only  three  members  in  its  stead. 
After  the  enactment  of  such  a  measure  the 
General  was  appointed  by  Mayor  Chapin  one 
of  the  three  commissioners,  an  appointment 
which  he  declined  to  accept,  not  from  unwill 
ingness  to  serve  the  city  but  for  personal  rea 
sons  creditable  to  his  good  faith  and  honor. 


THE  SHORE  EOAD  167 

In  1892  General  Woodward  was  appointed 
by  Mayor  Boody  member  of  a  commission  to 
lay  out  a  parkway  along  the  shore  of  The 
Narrows  and  the  Bay  of  New  York,  and  at 
the  first  meeting  of  that  commission  he  was 
unanimously,  and  as  a  matter  of  course, 
elected  its  president.  He  evinced  his  custom 
ary  zeal,  tact,  intelligence,  energy,  and  good 
taste  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  on  this 
commission.  The  statute  under  which  the 
commission  was  proceeding  was  not  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  friends  of  the  project,  and 
in  1884  a  more  ample  enactment  was  secured 
which  necessitated  the  appointment  of  a  new 
commission.  By  this  time  another  mayor  was 
in  office,  but,  appreciating  at  its  true  value 
the  service  of  the  men  appointed  by  his  pre 
decessor,  he  reappointed  the  five  commission 
ers,  adding  two  to  complete  the  number  re 
quired  by  the  later  statute.  The  political 
complexion  of  the  city  government  having 
changed,  and  because  another  member  of  the 
commission  had  been  active  in  promoting  the 
passage  of  the  legislation  required,  General 
Woodward,  with  characteristic  magnanimity, 


168  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

decided  that  it  would  be  inexpedient  for  him 
to  retain  the  presidency.  He  was  earnest  and 
persistent  in  presenting  his  view  of  the  mat 
ter,  but  after  discussion,  and  after  being 
unanimously  elected  president  of  the  new  or 
ganization,  he  with  his  invariable  good  nature 
consented  to  serve.  The  far-seeing  wisdom 
and  the  good  taste  of  the  commission  have 
never  been  questioned,  although  its  report 
involved  for  its  carrying  out  the  expenditure 
of  several  millions  of  dollars.  Nearly  four 
millions  of  dollars  have  now  been  paid  merely 
for  the  acquisition  of  property  comprised 
within  the  borders  of  the  parkway  designed 
while  the  General  was  living.  When  the  report 
which  explained  this  design  was  received  by 
Mayor  Schieren,  who  had  appointed  the  lat 
est  commission,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  General 
Woodward  thanking  him  for  the  very  satis 
factory  treatment  of  the  enterprise.  Pursuant 
to  a  provision  of  the  statute  a  public  meeting 
was  held  in  the  City  Hall  at  which  all  citizens 
having  objections  to  the  report  were  invited 
to  attend  and  state  the  grounds  of  their  ob 
jections.  A  large  number  of  people  were 


NEW  PARKS  169 

present.  Indeed,  so  numerous  was  the  atten 
dance  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  adjourn 
from  the  rooms  in  which  the  meeting  had 
first  been  called  and  to  repair  to  the  chamber 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  As  citizen  after 
citizen  arose  to  speak,  the  Mayor,  who  was 
presiding,  was  compelled  to  call  one  after 
another  to  order  and  to  remind  those  present 
that  the  meeting  was  not  held  to  hear  expres 
sions  favorable  to  the  report  but  to  consider 
objections.  Finally,  as  no  objections  were 
presented,  he  declared  the  meeting  dissolved. 
There  have  been  subsequent  and  even  more 
impressive  demonstrations  of  the  high  pop 
ularity  of  the  Shore  Eoad  in  Brooklyn. 

In  1895  it  was  determined  by  the  responsi 
ble  officials  of  Brooklyn  to  enlarge  the  city's 
system  of  parks,  which  at  that  time  comprised 
less  area  in  proportion  to  the  population  than 
the  parks  of  any  other  city  of  importance  in 
the  United  States.  The  extension  of  the  parks 
by  the  acquisition  of  new  lands  was  certain  to 
involve  the  expenditure  of  several  millions  of 
dollars,  and  therefore  required  the  wisest  and 
most  careful  discretion.  The  legal  power  for 
22 


170  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

the  acquisition  was  vested  in  the  Park  Com 
missioner,  Mr.  Frank  Squier,  but  that  official 
concurred  with  the  Mayor  in  desiring  the  co 
operation  and  approval  of  other  citizens,  and 
upon  invitation  General  Woodward  accepted 
service  upon  an  advisory  committee  desig 
nated  to  assist  the  Park  Commissioner  in 
choosing  such  sites  as  should  be  most  avail 
able  and  suitable.  The  cooperation  of  this 
committee  and  the  Park  Commissioner  led 
to  the  purchase  of  more  than  double  as 
many  acres  as  the  city  formerly  owned,  and 
brought  into  the  city's  system  Forest  Park, 
Dyker  Beach  Park,  Lincoln  Terrace,  Canarsie 
Beach,  and  several  small  pleasure-grounds. 
These  instances  of  official  action  or  of  unoffi 
cial  cooperation  in  matters  of  public  concern 
are  sufficient  to  indicate  a  versatile  mind  and 
a  beneficent  activity,  but  they  are  altogether 
inadequate  to  create  a  just  impression  of  the 
unique  eminence  of  this  man.  A  stranger 
with  no  other  sources  of  knowledge  of  the 
subject  would  fail  to  perceive  how  General 
Woodward  came  to  be  regarded  as  "  in  recent 
years  the  most  useful  citizen  of  Brooklyn,"  yet 


RECOGNIZED  LEADERSHIP  171 

when  the  memorial  of  one  of  the  public  as 
sociations  to  which  he  belonged  made  that 
declaration,  the  fact  was  at  once,  by  common 
consent  and  without  hesitation,  universally 
recognized  by  his  contemporaries. 


VII 

ASSOCIATION   WITH   THE   BROOKLYN   INSTITUTE 


ENERAL  WOODWARD'S  most  impor- 
tant  and  effective  work  in  promoting 
education  and  culture  in  Brooklyn  was  done 
through  his  association  with  the  Brooklyn  In 
stitute  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  which  was  at  one 
time  known  as  the  Graham  Institute.  His 
family  had  been  intimately  associated  with 
the  Institute  for  upward  of  half  a  century. 
His  uncle,  George  Woodward,  who  came  to 
this  country  in  1819,  was  a  naturalist  and  a 
large  collector  in  zoology  and  botany  along 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  in  1846  was  elected  a 
member  of  a  committee  of  five  to  take  charge 
of  the  natural  history  collections  of  the  Insti 
tute  and  to  promote  its  scientific  interests. 
The  General's  father,  Thomas  Woodward,  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Institute,  and  on  the 


172 


ASSISTANT  LIBRARIAN  173 

twelfth  of  January,  1852,  was  elected  to  the 
Board  of  Directors,  on  which  he  served  con 
tinuously  until  September,  1869.  During  this 
period  he  was  a  member  of  some  of  the  most 
active  committees  of  the  board  and  was  quite 
zealous  in  the  work.  No  director  was  more 
constant  and  regular  in  attendance  upon  the 
meetings  of  the  board  or  more  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  library  and  the  development 
of  the  scientific  collections.  General  Wood 
ward's  own  relations  to  the  Institute  began  in 
his  early  childhood,  when  he  commenced  tak 
ing  books  from  the  youths'  free  library.  He 
continued  one  of  its  readers  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  When  his  father  was 
first  elected  director  John  B.  Woodward  be 
came  especially  interested  in  promoting  the 
circulation  of  the  library.  His  name  appears 
for  the  first  time  on  the  records  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  under  date  of  January  seven 
teenth,  1852,  when  he  was  appointed  assistant 
librarian,  but  long  before  this  he  had  fre 
quently  gone  with  his  father  to  listen  to  the 
evening  lectures.  In  his  later  years  he  was 
in  the  habit  of  recalling  with  a  great  deal  of 


174  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

pleasure  his  experiences  in  giving  out  books 
in  the  old  library  in  the  Washington  street 
building,  and  he  delighted  in  memories  of  the 
young  people  who  were  readers  at  that  time, 
with  some  of  whom  he  formed  friendships 
which  endured  until  his  decease.  On  the  four 
teenth  of  January,  1867,  he  was  first  elected  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  a  member 
ship  to  which  he  was  continuously  reflected 
in  each  succeeding  year  of  his  life.  In  1887 
the  Institute,  which  had  been  in  a  declining 
state,  was  put  upon  a  more  encouraging  basis. 
Its  supporters  having  raised  fifteen  thousand 
dollars  by  subscription,  with  which  to  remodel 
and  enlarge  the  building  and  to  provide  studio 
rooms  for  artists,  General  Woodward  served 
on  the  committee  which  had  charge  of  the 
entire  matter.  From  the  beginning  of  his  di 
rectorate  he  acted  on  the  most  important  two 
standing  committees,  those  on  library  and  on 
scientific  work.  On  the  second  day  of  May, 
1870,  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Directors,  to  which  position  he  was  an 
nually  reflected  until  1878,  when  he  succeeded 
Mr.  William  Everdell  as  president.  At  the 


SECEETAEY  AND  PRESIDENT  175 

end  of  a  year  he  relinquished  the  presidency 
in  order  to  secure  the  election  of  General 
Jesse  C.  Smith.  The  retirement  of  General 
Woodward  was  characteristic  of  the  man.  He 
could  work  quite  as  zealously  in  the  ranks  as 
in  command,  and  if  it  seemed  to  him  that 
another  could  do  more  effective  service  as 
leader  he  was  always  willing  to  contribute 
toward  the  promotion  of  that  other  and  was 
most  active  in  conferring  and  supporting 
such  leadership.  General  Woodward  again 
accepted  the  position  of  secretary,  and  in 
May,  1887,  when  General  Smith,  owing  to  ad 
vanced  years  and  ill  health,  retired  from  the 
presidency,  General  Woodward  was  again 
elected  to  that  position.  Among  the  thou 
sands  who  are  now  members  of  this  great  and 
popular  association  probably  very  few  know 
that  it  is  scarcely  more  than  ten  years  since  it 
was  a  serious  question  as  to  whether  it  would 
be  possible  to  continue  the  Institute.  A  debt 
had  been  contracted,  when  the  Washington 
street  building  was  remodeled,  which  proved 
to  be  an  intolerable  burden,  and  although 
General  Woodward  was  a  determined,  cour- 


176  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ageous,  and  hopeful  man,  in  1886  he  was  half 
disposed  to  favor  merging  the  Institute  with 
the  Union  for  Christian  Work.  While  con 
sulting  with  persons  in  New  York  who  were 
professionally  engaged  in  work  similar  to  that 
comprised  in  the  plans  of  the  Institute  he 
heard  of  Franklin  W.  Hooper,  who  was  at  that 
time  professor  of  chemistry  and  geology  in 
the  Adelphi  College,  and  whose  fitness  to  lead 
in  active  efforts  for  reviving  the  Institute 
was  highly  commended.  He  induced  Pro 
fessor  Hooper  to  become  interested  in  the 
matter,  and  in  May,  1887,  the  latter  was 
elected  to  the  Board  of  Directors.  At  that 
time  G-eneral  Smith,  who  was  president,  ap 
pointed  as  a  committee  on  scientific  work  Pro 
fessor  Hooper,  General  Woodward,  and  his 
brother,  Colonel  Eobert  B.  Woodward.  In 
the  autumn  of  1887  this  committee  had  fre 
quent  meetings  and  its  members  consulted 
many  persons  in  other  cities  whose  advice  and 
counsel  were  likely  to  be  of  service  in  suggest 
ing  useful  and  feasible  measures.  In  that 
same  year,  while  General  Woodward  was  still 
secretary  of  the  Board,  he  had  the  pleasure  of 


NEW  PLANS  FOB  WOKK  177 

seeing  the  last  dollar  of  indebtedness  of  the 
Institute  paid  off.  He  now  became  extremely 
desirous  that  the  work  of  the  Institute  should 
be  broadened  in  its  scope  and  that  it  should 
become  an  active  practical  educational  factor 
in  the  community.  In  December  the  special 
committee  met  in  the  parlor  of  General  Wood 
ward's  house,  when  elaborate  plans  of  reor 
ganization  and  future  work  were  presented  by 
the  chairman  and  were  earnestly  discussed  for 
several  hours.  The  committee  entered  heart 
ily  into  the  spirit  of  the  new  plans  and  from 
that  evening  until  the  time  of  his  death  the 
General  gave  unabated  and  enthusiastic  aid 
in  developing  and  executing  those  measures. 
When  the  committee  reported  to  the  Board 
of  Directors  General  Woodward  cogently  and 
convincingly  advocated  the  report  and  moved 
that  the  trustees  invite  the  cooperation  of  sci 
entific  men  and  societies  in  Brooklyn.  He 
presided  at  the  first  assemblage  of  representa 
tives  of  the  scientific  institutions  of  Brooklyn 
and  New  York,  held  January  twenty-eighth, 
1888,  before  whom  the  methods  of  reorgani 
zation  and  enlargement  of  the  Institute  were 

23 


178  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

explained,  and  again,  on  Saturday  evening  the 
eleventh  of  February,  he  presided  when  thirty- 
six  persons  agreed  to  form  an  associate  mem 
bership  and  to  cooperate  with  the  Board  of 
Directors  for  the  more  effective  carrying 
out  of  the  provisions  of  the  new  organization. 
During  the  presidency  of  General  Woodward, 
from  1887  to  1895  inclusive,  the  membership 
of  the  Institute  was  increased  from  eighty-two 
to  three  thousand  seven  hundred,  the  number 
of  public  lectures  from  eighteen  to  four  hun 
dred  and  ninety-six,  the  number  of  special 
meetings  and  class  exercises  from  sixty  to  two 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  and 
the  annual  attendance  at  the  various  gather 
ings  of  the  Institute,  which  was  six  thousand 
nine  hundred  at  the  beginning  of  his  presi 
dency,  had  before  its  termination  increased  to 
over  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand.  In 
a  published  report  of  an  interview  General 
Woodward  is  quoted  as  saying,  "It  was  in 
1887  that  I  became  president  for  the  second 
time  and  was  able  to  see  plans  for  the  Insti 
tute  adopted  and  carried  out.  .  .  .  We  had 
struggled  with  a  debt  of  fourteen  thousand 


PLANNING  THE  MUSEUM  179 

dollars,  which  was  a  source  of  endless  embar 
rassment.  On  account  of  it  the  Institute  had 
been  practically  lifeless  for  twenty  years. 
Now  see  what  we  have  —  an  endowment  fund 
of  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
as  good  securities  as  can  be  found  in  Brook 
lyn  and  the  city  ready  to  issue  bonds  to  the 
extent  of  three  hundred  thousand  more  in 
order  to  erect  a  museum  building."  General 
Woodward  added,  "And  all  this  has  been  ac 
complished  mainly  through  the  efforts  of 
Franklin  W.  Hooper."  While  the  General 
was  always  generous  in  the  bestowal  of  praise 
he  was  discriminating,  but  the  accuracy  of  his 
award  in  this  instance  is  questioned  by  Pro 
fessor  Hooper  himself,  who  persists  in  declar 
ing  that  the  high  position  the  Institute  has 
attained  is  due  very  largely  to  the  wisdom 
and  energy  and  influence  of  General  Wood 
ward's  leadership. 

In  December,  1888,  plans  for  establishing 
museums  of  arts  and  sciences  were  approved 
by  General  Woodward  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Council  of  the  Institute,  and  were  advocated 
by  him  in  an  address  at  a  citizens'  meeting 


180  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

over  which  he  presided  on  the  fifth  of  Febru 
ary,  1889.  The  city  had  for  some  years  per 
sisted  in  the  policy  of  selling  what  were 
known  as  the  Eastside  Lands,  but  immedi 
ately  previous  to  this  time  other  counsels  pre 
vailed  and  it  was  determined  to  reserve  that 
portion  of  these  lands  situated  between  Flat- 
bush  Avenue  and  the  Eastern  Parkway.  Gen 
eral  Woodward  now  advocated  the  enactment 
of  a  law  authorizing  the  city  to  lease  these 
lands  to  the  Institute  at  nominal  sums  for  mu 
seum  and  library  sites.  In  1890  the  directors 
of  the  Institute  desired  a  new  charter  from 
the  Legislature,  that  should  increase  the  power 
and  scope  of  the  corporation  and  change  its 
name,  and  General  Woodward  brought  many 
influential  citizens  to  the  support  of  the  mea 
sure.  It  was  he  who  proposed  the  legisla 
tion  authorizing  the  city  of  Brooklyn  to  issue 
bonds  with  the  proceeds  of  which  the  first  sec 
tion  of  the  museum  building  might  be  erected. 
The  cooperation  of  the  city  authorities,  and 
the  general  public  approval  of  these  proposi 
tions,  were  largely  the  result  of  his  own  ef 
forts  and  of  the  universal  confidence  felt  in 


RESIGNS  THE  PRESIDENCY  181 

his  trustworthiness  and  good  sense.  He  lived 
to  witness  the  interesting  ceremonies  at  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  museum 
building  of  the  Institute  he  had  done  so  much 
to  revive  and  advance,  a  building  which  will 
be  one  of  the  noblest  structures  in  the  United 
States,  and  will,  it  is  conceded,  be  the  model 
of  the  world  for  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  to 
be  devoted.  During  his  presidency,  and  un 
questionably  largely  owing  to  his  extraordi 
nary  capacity,  the  Institute  from  a  moribund 
condition  became  an  educational  and  refining 
factor  of  vast  and  perhaps  unique  importance. 
In  1895  General  Woodward,  much  to  the 
regret  of  every  one  of  his  associates,  relin 
quished  the  presidency.  At  that  time  the 
death  of  one  of  his  correspondents  in  the 
Argentine  Eepublic  necessitated  a  visit  to 
South  America;  and  in  the  spring  of  that 
year,  perhaps  realizing  that  the  duties  of  his 
office  were  absorbing  more  of  his  time  than 
he  could  justly  take  from  his  personal  affairs 
and  from  his  obligations  to  business  associ 
ates,  and  perceiving  that  with  its  new  de 
velopment  the  Institute  would  require  even 


182  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

more  time  in  the  future,  lie  determined  on  the 
step  which  caused  such  deep  regret  and  even 
embarrassment.  He  continued  a  director, 
however,  and  after  returning  from  his  long 
voyages  he  at  once  resumed  his  intimate  as 
sociation  with  the  work  of  the  Institute  and 
became,  it  may  truly  be  said,  its  most  impor 
tant  counselor. 


VIII 

ILLNESS,   DECEASE,   AND  FUNERAL 

IT  was  while  General  Woodward  was  trying 
to  serve  his  neighbors  that  he  caught  the 
cold  that  led  to  his  untimely  death.  A  rail 
way  company  was  endeavoring  to  obtain  from 
the  city  authorities  permission  to  lay  its  tracks 
in  Hicks  Street  or  Henry  Street,  a  project 
which  the  residents  in  the  vicinity  considered 
an  injurious  and  unwarranted  invasion  of  a 
quiet  section  of  the  town.  A  committee  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  met  at  the  City  Hall 
on  Thursday  evening,  the  twenty-seventh  of 
February,  1896,  to  consider  the  petition  of  the 
railway  company  and  to  listen  to  the  remon 
strants,  with  whom  the  General  appeared. 
The  Aldermanic  chamber  was  uncomfortably 
warm  and  a  window  was  opened  which  ad 
mitted  an  intensely  cold  draft  directly  upon 
the  General.  The  next  day  he  was  evidently 


184  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ill,  but  he  was  not  confined  to  his  house  and 
went  about  his  affairs  as  usual.  On  Monday 
evening  he  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Rem 
brandt  Club.  The  following  was  the  most  aw 
ful  day  of  the  year,  cold,  dark,  gloomy,  stormy, 
boisterous.  General  Woodward,  however,  had 
always  fairly  rollicked  in  his  consciousness  of 
physical  vigor  and  general  health,  so  that  the 
idea  of  its  being  imprudent  for  him  to  go  out 
in  such  weather,  while  suffering  from  a  severe 
cold,  probably  did  not  occur  to  him.  He  at 
tended  a  meeting  of  the  directors  of  the  Third 
National  Bank  of  New  York,  at  noon,  but 
shortly  after  he  experienced  a  severe  chill. 
He  went  into  the  Down  Town  Club,  of  which 
he  had  long  been  a  member,  and  drank  a  cup 
of  hot  tea,  which  for  the  moment  seemed  to 
revive  him.  His  brother  urged  the  General  to 
let  him  call  a  cab,  but  he  refused,  because,  he 
said,  it  would  alarm  his  wife  to  see  him  com 
ing  home  during  the  day  in  such  style.  He 
insisted  upon  going  to  his  office,  where  he 
spent  some  time,  after  which  he  started  for 
Brooklyn.  Before  he  arrived  at  his  house  he 
was  seized  with  another  chill.  The  ablest 


EXPRESSIONS  OF  APPRECIATION  185 

physicians  were  at  once  summoned,  but  pneu 
monia  quickly  developed,  and  although  every 
resource  and  expedient  of  medical  skill  and 
careful  nursing  was  applied  to  the  case,  the 
disease  progressed  rapidly  and  death  ensued 
a  moment  after  midnight  of  Friday  the  sixth 
of  March,  1896. 

The  publication  of  the  G-eneraPs  decease 
was  immediately  followed  by  remarkable  ex 
pressions  of  public  and  private  appreciation 
of  his  worth  and  of  a  sense  of  the  irreparable 
loss  which  the  community  had  suffered.  It 
was  the  one  topic  of  which  men  spoke  as  they 
met  in  the  streets  and  exchanges,  at  the  clubs 
where  he  was  so  well-known,  and  in  all  their 
accustomed  places.  The  press  throughout  the 
country,  and  especially  in  New  York  State, 
paid  tribute  to  the  character  of  a  citizen 
whose  activities  had  for  many  years  furnished 
theme  for  its  approving  comment.  In  his 
own  city  the  evidences  of  sincere  mourning 
were  extremely  impressive  and  the  editorial 
remarks  of  the  journals  bore  testimony  to  the 
deep  personal  feeling  of  the  writers.  The 
"  Standard-Union  "  said : 

24 


186  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

He  was  one  of  the  best  representatives  of  an 
intelligent,  public-spirited,  and  patriotic  citi 
zen  who  ever  lived  in  this  city. 

The  Brooklyn  "  Citizen  "  declared : 

Looking  back  at  the  history  of  General 
Woodward  as  known  to  thousands  of  his  fel 
low-citizens  it  is  impossible  to  see  how  any 
thing  but  good  could  be  honestly  written  of 
him.  He  was  an  exemplary  citizen,  both  in 
his  domestic  and  business  relations,  and  his 
public  career  left  no  blot  on  his  name;  not 
even  the  suspicion  of  selfishness. 

The  editorial  of  the  Brooklyn  "  Eagle "  was 
entitled  "A  Loss  to  Brooklyn."  Its  compre 
hensiveness  and  its  felicity  of  phrase  may  jus 
tify  giving  it  a  place  in  this  volume,  and  the 
greater  part  of  it  is  therefore  reprinted : 

The  death  of  John  B.  Woodward  is  a  sad 
loss  to  citizenship,  education,  morality,  clari 
fied  religion,  friendship,  and  progress  in 
Brooklyn.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  life.  He 
was  on  the  right  side  of  every  public  question 


THE   "  EAGLE"  EDITORIAL  187 

here  since  lie  reached  manhood.  The  people 
here  have  never  decided  adversely  to  the  posi 
tions  which  he  assumed,  without  being  wrotog. 
This  could  be  said  of  very  few  Brooklynites. 
It  can  be  confidently  and  truthfully  said  of 
him.  Nevertheless  he  always  knew  that  the 
people  meant  right  even  when  they  did  not 
succeed  in  doing  right.  He  tried  his  utmost 
to  temper  even  their  wrongful  decisions  with 
their  highest  intentions  in  making  them.  His 
object  was  to  get  for  the  government  the  right 
instrumentalities  and  out  of  even  inferior  in 
strumentalities  the  best  possible  results. 

On  the  lines  which  create  and  divide  parties 
he  was  a  partizan.  On  those  lines  in  State 
and  in  home  affairs  which  concerned  only  the 
business  conduct  of  public  business  he  was  an 
independent.  Yet  as  an  independent  he  was 
neither  too  good,  nor  was  he  hard  to  live  with, 
nor  as  a  partizan  was  he  rancorous,  opinion 
ated,  or  intolerant.  .  .  .  His  learning  illu 
minated,  humanized,  ameliorated,  and  refined 
his  business  sense.  That  sense  strengthened, 
organized,  and  made  practically  serviceable 
the  learning  of  the  man. 


188  JOHN  B.  WOODWAED 

We  presume  that  those  who  were  thrown 
into  association  with  him  were  mainly  im 
pressed  with  his  unusual  executive  gifts.  .  .  . 
Not  only  was  he  a  model  citizen,  but  he  was  a 
patriotic  and  valiant  soldier.  He  sympathized 
with  the  national  military  spirit  in  his  teens. 
He  upheld  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  of  free 
dom  in  the  war.  He  was  the  effective  com 
manding  general  of  the  entire  force  of  the 
State  of  New  York  in  peace,  bringing  the 
equipment  and  housing  of  our  National  Guard 
before  the  public  attention  in  a  way  which  has 
been  realized  by  the  merited  and  rewarding 
results  of  to-day.  In  civil  life  he  was  a  wise 
administrator,  a  conscientious  trustee  of  pub 
lic  powers,  an  enlightened,  practical  friend  of 
business  methods  and  civil  service  reform 
principles,  and  a  promoter  of  appointment 
and  selection  by  merit,  of  tenure  during  com 
petency  and  good  conduct,  and  of  promotion 
for  cause. 

The  news  columns  of  this  paper  to-day 
outline  the  facts  of  his  life.  They  involve 
too  many  details  to  need  recapitulation  here. 
Here  we  would  but  recall  the  spirit  of  the  man 


THE   "EAGLE"  EDITORIAL  189 

who  has  gone.  That  spirit  was  consecration 
to  duty  without  saying  anything  about  it.  It 
was  devotion  to  ideals  without  the  preachment 
of  them.  His  was  a  life  in  the  fear  of  God 
without  protrusion  of  the  fact,  and  in  the  love 
of  man  without  proclamation  of  the  feeling. 
From  the  merely  ordinary  impression  which 
he  casually  made  on  casual  acquaintances  one 
grew  to  realize  by  friendship  and  association 
the  sterling  qualities  of  his  character,  the 
thoroughness  of  his  knowledge,  the  clearness 
of  his  judgment,  the  fineness  of  his  tastes,  the 
completeness  of  his  faith  in  the  people,  the 
deep  and  rational  nature  of  his  confidence  in 
free  institutions,  the  abiding  sense  of  his  soul 
in  the  things  which  are  not  seen  and  which 
are  eternal,  and  the  tenacity  —  indeed,  if  need 
were  supplied,  the  heroism  —  of  his  moral 
courage  for  that  which  he  regarded  as  right. 
His  was  solidity  without  showiness.  His 
was  earnestness  without  the  manner  of  it.  His 
was  sincerity  of  action  without  the  advertise 
ment  of  demonstrativeness.  Had  the  gift  of 
magnetism  or  the  art  of  eloquence  or  the  in 
stinct  of  demagogy  or  the  love  of  popularity, 


190  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

or  any  of  those  things  which  lead  a  man  to 
exploit  himself,  while  living  himself,  been  his, 
John  B.  Woodward  would  have  been  more 
quickly  understood,  yet  more  readily  dis 
missed,  more  promptly  appraised,  yet  more 
rapidly  discounted.  We  sometimes  wished 
that  his  modesty  or  indifference  to  effects  did 
not  make  him,  so  to  speak,  stand  in  his  own 
light.  Yet  we  soon  got  over  that  feeling,  be 
cause  we  realized  that  although  the  divine 
qualities  in  him  were  not  dramatic,  they  were 
real,  and  perhaps  because  not  dramatic  they 
were  the  more  real. 

Not  one  of  the  men  whose  character  and 
position  make  them  known  to  Brooklyn  as  the 
exponents  of  her  life,  the  custodians  of  her 
confidence,  the  trustees  of  her  purposes,  and 
the  forthspeakers  of  her  will,  will  fail  to  feel 
that  a  noble  colleague  and  an  honored  leader 
has  gone  from  them  to-day.  Not  one  of  them 
will  be  able  at  once  calmly  to  express  or 
rightly  to  estimate  the  loss  which  the  city  has 
sustained  in  his  death.  Not  one  of  them  was 
prepared  for  the  news  of  his  decease,  since  all 
of  the  inferences  from  his  good  health  in  later 


THE   " EAGLE"  EDITORIAL  191 

years,  and  from  the  simplicity  and  wholesome- 
ness  of  his  habits  his  whole  life  through, 
kindled  confidence  in  the  ability  of  his  con 
stitution  to  repel  the  attack  upon  the  citadel 
of  his  strength.  To-day  the  words  must  be 
words  rather  of  record  than  of  review,  words 
of  sorrow  rather  than  of  measurement,  words 
of  the  heart  rather  than  words  of  history. 

We  do  know,  however,  that  while  citizen 
ship  is  less  by  his  loss  it  will  be  more  because 
of  his  example.  We  do  know  that  while  learn 
ing  will  number  another  of  its  benefactors 
among  the  dead,  its  surviving  friends  will 
draw  inspiration  and  dedication  from  the 
precious  legacy  of  the  immortal  spirit  of  this 
man  of  manifold  unsuspected  services  to  the 
advance  of  humanity  on  the  lines  of  better 
living  and  of  nobler  laws.  We  know  that 
pure  religion  and  uudefiled  will  be  more  here, 
and  in  circles  hence  widening  out  afar,  be 
cause  of  the  influence  upon  toleration,  upon 
reverence,  and  upon  love,  of  this  man,  some  of 
whose  creed  was  in  every  church  and  all  of  it 
in  none.  We  tender  to  his  stricken  kindred  a 
profound  and  respectful  condolence.  We  as- 


192  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

sure  the  representatives  of  the  great  moral, 
humane,  and  educational  causes  which  he 
served  of  Brooklyn's  sense  of  participation  in 
the  loss  which  they  have  sustained.  And  we 
would  say  to  partizans  in  all  camps  of  opinion 
here  that  the  study  of  this  career  and  the  sin 
cere  imitation  of  this  life,  which  passed  from 
action  into  the  silences  to-day,  involve  one  of 
the  truest  lessons  which  they  can  pursue,  and 
if  the  lesson  be  rightly  learned  it  will  yield 
such  a  force  and  such  a  fruitage  of  good  for 
decades  to  come  as  will  add  to  the  best  wealth 
which  Brooklyn  has — her  estate  in  the  char 
acter  of  her  best  children. 

On  Sunday  morning  the  Unitarian  Church 
of  our  Saviour,  in  Pierrepont  Street,  which 
General  Woodward  had  attended  for  many 
years,  and  which  his  father  helped  to  found, 
was  thronged,  not  only  with  the  regular  con 
gregation,  but  by  a  large  number  of  persons 
from  all  parts  of  the  city  who  had  been  at 
tracted  by  the  notice  that  the  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  A.  Eliot,  would  refer  to  General  Wood 
ward's  death,  in  his  sermon.  He  said,  in  part : 


ME.  ELIOT'S  SEEMON  193 

We  are  met  under  the  shadow  of  a  common 
sorrow.  He  who  has  so  long  been  a  pillar  of 
strength  among  us,  the  friend  and  helper  of 
all,  is  missed  from  his  accustomed  seat.  We 
can  hardly  realize  the  fact  as  yet.  Only  last 
Sunday  he  broke  with  us  here  the  communion 
bread.  We  still  expect  to  see  his  tall  figure 
filling  the  doorway.  .  .  .  God  grant  that 
such  assurance  may  be  ours  to-day,  so  that 
our  cries  of  mourning  may  be  turned  at  last 
to  prayers  of  gratitude  for  the  life  lived  so 
long  and  so  nobly  with  us,  the  life  of  genial 
ity,  kindly  activities,  and  wide  sympathies; 
the  life  of  charitable  judgment,  of  broad  hu 
manity,  of  simple,  sincere,  and  unobserved 
piety.  We  cannot  associate  with  death  the 
thought  of  a  man  so  warm  with  the  affections 
and  wise  with  the  thoughts  that  take  hold  of 
immortal  life.  We  cannot  believe  that  that 
sunshine  of  life  is  stricken  or  interrupted.  Its 
warmth  and  heat  were  perhaps  less  felt  be 
cause  the  soul  did  not  show  us  the  contrast  of 
chilliness.  No  defects  gave  prominence  to  the 
excellencies.  Where  there  are  no  shadows  it 
is  hard  to  appreciate  the  brilliancy  of  the 

25 


194  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

light,  but  as  I  think  of  that  broad,  genial  life 
I  know  not  how  to  paint  the  shadows.  I  have 
known  just  men  who  were  hard  and  severe, 
and  I  have  known  humane  men  who  were  soft 
and  sentimental — rarely  do  we  meet  a  man 
in  whose  character  justice  and  tenderness  are 
balanced.  These  days  of  competition  tend  to 
create  characters  which  are  irregular,  exagger 
ated,  and  with  one  good  quality  dwarfed  in 
another.  Here  was  the  harmonious  develop 
ment  of  all.  He  was  not 

Great  for  an  hour,  heroic  for  a  scene, 
Inert  through  all  the  common  life  between. 

His  character  was  singularly  symmetrical. 
His  mind,  heart,  and  conscience  had  no  in 
direct  and  circuitous  methods.  He  went 
straight  to  his  point  by  the  most  sunlit  road 
— a  characteristic  of  brave  and  single-minded 
natures.  A  simple  dignity,  a  spontaneous 
courtesy  which  disregarded  all  the  artificial 
distinctions  of  society,  marked  all  his  inter 
course  with  his  fellow-men.  For  years  past 
there  has  hardly  been  an  important  institution 
or  enterprise  which  has  proved  to  be  for  the 


MB.  ELIOT'S  SERMON  195 

real  good  of  this  community  with  which  he 
has  not  been  influentially  connected.  In  him 
the  good  sense,  the  humane  instincts,  the 
higher  ambitions  of  this  city  were  individual 
ized. 

This  is  no  time  for  studied  panegyric,  and 
nothing  would  have  been  less  to  his  taste. 
Never  was  man  more  unconscious  of  the  love 
and  honor  he  had  freely  won  —  but  we  who 
were  glad  of  his  fellowship  may  in  our  grief 
rejoice  to  remember  the  virtues  which  grew 
with  the  growth  and  strengthened  with  the 
strength,  the  posts  of  duty  met  and  filled  with 
wisdom  and  fidelity,  the  good  causes  sustained 
and  guided  with  prompt  and  intelligent  devo 
tion,  the  years  of  successful  industry  in  busi 
ness  life  and  of  manly  tenderness  in  domestic 
relations.  That  path  of  public  spirit  and  mag 
nanimity  has  no  ending.  The  heart  that  was 
larger  than  his  great  frame  knows  no  anni 
hilation.  The  virtues  were  such  as  have 
honor  in  the  presence  of  God,  for  the  Father 
needeth  such  to  serve  him.  In  the  maturity 
of  his  powers  the  earthly  career  of  usefulness 
has  been  suddenly  arrested,  yet  is  the  message 


196  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

to  us  still  a  message  of  abundant  life.  His 
very  going  may  have  power  to  waken  in  our 
minds  a  deep  sense  of  the  blessings  we  enjoy 
in  this  Christian  fellowship  and  of  the  obliga 
tion  of  public-spirited  service  and  private 
honor  which  rest  upon  us.  He  has  left  us  the 
inspiration  of  that  which  the  grave  cannot 
enclose  nor  death  itself  disintegrate,  the  solid 
substance  of  a  firm-knit  character.  By  our 
outreaching  love,  by  our  unceasing  diligence, 
by  our  sincerity  of  faith,  may  we  prove  our 
selves  not  unworthy  of  his  friendship  and  not 
unmoved  by  his  example. 

The  death  of  General  Woodward,  his  life, 
his  character,  and  his  activities,  furnished 
themes  for  remark  and  eulogium  in  many 
other  pulpits. 

The  funeral  services  were  conducted  in  the 
Church  of  Our  Saviour  on  Monday,  the  ninth 
of  March.  The  Board  of  Aldermen  adjourned 
and  the  Mayor  and  most  of  the  city  officials 
attended  the  services.  The  church  was  com 
pletely  filled.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Eliot  again  spoke, 
his  remarks  being  as  follows : 


FUNERAL  ADDRESSES  197 

I  sometimes  think  that  the  worth  of  a  man 
is  justly  measured  by  the  character  of  the 
friends  who  mourn  for  him.  That  so  large  a 
representation  of  our  best  citizenship  should 
be  present  here  to-day  is  the  well-deserved 
tribute  of  the  city  to  the  man  in  whom  were 
incarnated  the  wisdom,  the  humane  instincts, 
the  public  spirit  of  this  community.  We  are 
here  to  testify  to  the  influence  which  this  man 
of  simple,  genial,  upright  life  has  had  upon 
our  hearts  and  upon  our  higher  ambitions. 
His  very  physical  presence  inspired  confi 
dence,  his  dignity  enforced  respect,  his  cordial 
friendliness  won  our  love.  He  always  seemed 
to  me  to  take  life  in  a  large  way,  unvexed 
by  disappointments,  sunning  himself  in  the 
warmth  of  domestic  affections,  giving  a  whole 
some  energy  to  many  noble  enterprises,  al 
ways  less  anxious  to  shine  in  the  estimation  of 
others  than  to  preserve  his  own  self-respect. 
His  genuineness  of  nature  revolted  from  all 
pretension,  a  mental  integrity  and  a  robust 
moral  health  ran  through  his  whole  being. 
He  had  the  large,  sober,  manly  common-sense 
and  the  kindly,  generous  heart  that  we  Ameri- 


198  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

cans  demand  in  the  leaders  that  we  trust  and 
follow.  The  champion  of  many  good  causes, 
he  escaped  the  narrowness  that  comes  from 
exclusive  devotion  to  a  particular  cause.  His 
great  human  sympathies  and  manly  devotion 
communicated  themselves  to  all  who  served 
with  him  in  any  high  enterprise,  touching  and 
unsealing  the  springs  alike  of  resolution  and 
magnanimity.  Sweetness  played  about  his 
force.  There  was  always  charity  in  his  judg 
ments  and  gentleness  in  his  might.  But  his 
tenderness  and  toleration  did  not  make  him 
compliant.  He  was  capable  at  once  of  righ 
teous  indignation  against  error  and  evil  and  of 
compassion  toward  the  evil-doer.  His  Chris 
tianity  was  broad  and  practical.  He  stood  on 
ground  of  duty  and  of  conscience  rather  than 
of  opinion.  He  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  into 
the  dark  places  of  theology,  but  whatever 
good  his  hands  found  to  do  he  did  it  with  his 
might.  Inheriting  his  allegiance  to  this  house 
of  God,  he  held  with  sincere  and  unobtru 
sive  piety  the  simple  form  of  Christian  faith 
taught  here.  He  loved  it  and  he  lived  it.  Fi 
nally,  he  had  the  kindling,  animating  power 


FUNERAL  ADDRESSES  199 

which  we  call  soul,  which  comes  from  no  ex 
tent  of  learning,  no  breadth  of  understanding, 
no  depth  of  sentiment,  but  is  the  attribute 
of  commanding  personality  alone.  With  or 
against  our  will  we  caught  from  him  courage, 
patriotism,  charity,  confidence  in  principle 
and  trust  in  Grod. 

The  Eev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  D.  D.,  pas 
tor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Brook 
lyn,  and  a  warm  friend  of  General  Woodward, 
also  delivered  an  address.  Some  of  his  re 
marks  are  quoted: 

Although  this  occasion  is  preeminently 
mournful,  although  what  we  see  before  us 
awakens  most  acutely  our  sense  of  an  un 
timely  death,  there  is  yet,  friends  and  broth 
ers,  an  element  of  nobleness  in  this  hour,  a 
message  of  strength  which  is  an  inspiration 
to  every  earnest  man.  .  .  .  The  words  I  am 
now  speaking  are  intended  to  express  love  and 
gratitude  to  one  who  has  gained  the  one  and 
has  earned  the  other  without  knowing  it.  If 
the  dead  know  the  sentiment  their  lives  have 


200  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

inspired,  then  our  friend  knows  to-day  what 
he  little  knew  or  dreamed  of  on  earth.  There 
was  a  public  man  who  had  not  sought  pub 
licity  for  his  own  sake,  who  became  a  public 
man  by  necessity  rather  than  by  choice,  be 
came  self-consecrated  to  the  public  good. 
With  all  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  the 
virility  of  his  will,  the  perseverance  of  his 
work  in  fulfilling  what  he  had  undertaken,  I 
believe  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  humble 
spirit,  severe  in  judging  himself,  estimating  at 
the  most  modest  valuation  the  work  he  did. 
In  the  last  hours  of  his  life,  that  time  when 
men  are  not  wont  to  dissemble  their  real 
thoughts,  there  fell  from  him  words  that  bore 
pathetic  witness  to  his  humble  estimate  of 
himself.  In  life  he  would  have  resented  vain 
laudation  and  would  have  doubted  the  sincer 
ity  of  those  that  offered  it.  We  do  not  offer  it 
to  his  memory,  but  as  his  most  untimely  death 
sets  before  the  community  in  the  broad  light 
of  fact  and  record  the  tenor  of  his  life  and  the 
fruits  of  his  labors,  it  cannot  be  denied,  and  it 
need  not  be  concealed,  that  he  has  won  our 
love  and  that  he  has  earned  our  gratitude. 


FUNERAL  ADDRESSES  201 

The  intellectual  opportunities  of  this  city  have 
been  broadened  and  its  intellectual  reputation 
has  been  extended  by  his  vigorous  leadership 
of  a  great  public  movement  in  this  direction. 
The  true  civic  spirit  and  the  true  national 
spirit  in  himself  has  fanned  in  many,  and  has 
kindled  in  some,  a  like  spirit.  He  dies  rich  in 
friends  who  cannot  let  his  bodily  presence 
vanish  from  them  without  saying  over  his 
grave  these  words  of  free-hearted  love  and 
honest  appreciation. 

After  the  services  the  body  was  interred  in 
the  General's  plot  in  Dell  Avenue,  Greenwood 
Cemetery. 


26 


IX 

TESTIMONIALS   OF  MANY  ASSOCIATIONS 

AT  the  time  of  General  Woodward's  decease 
J-JL  he  was  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Art 
Association,  President  of  the  Thomas  Jeffer 
son  Association  of  Brooklyn,  and  President  of 
the  Shore  Road  Commission.  He  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Third  National  Bank  of  New 
York,  Vice-President  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  National  Rifle  Association.  He  was  Treas 
urer  of  the  Commercial  Mutual  Insurance 
Company  and  Treasurer  of  the  Birkbeck  In 
vestment  Savings  &  Loan  Company  of  Amer 
ica.  He  was  a  Director  in  the  Atlantic  Mu 
tual  Insurance  Company,  in  the  Franklin 
Trust  Company,  in  the  Franklin  Safe  Deposit 
Company,  in  the  American  Saw  Company,  in 
the  Beckett  Foundry  &  Machine  Company, 
and  in  the  Brooklyn  Homeopathic  Hospital. 


202 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  203 

He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  the  New  York  Maritime  Associa 
tion,  the  Down  Town  Association,  the  Society 
of  Old  Brooklynites,  the  Brooklyn  Club,  the 
Hamilton  Club  of  Brooklyn,  the  Brooklyn 
Eiding  &  Driving  Club,  the  Rembrandt  Club, 
the  American  Yacht  Club,  the  Lauren tian 
Club,  the  American  Association  for  the  Ad 
vancement  of  Science,  Commonwealth  Lodge 
No.  409  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  Phoenix 
Chapter  No.  2  Eoyal  Arch  Masons,  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Eepublic,  the  Loyal  Legion,  and 
he  was  an  honorary  member  of  the  American 
Association  of  Public  Accountants,  of  one  of 
the  oldest  lodges  of  Masons  in  New  York,  of 
the  Thirteenth  Eegiment  Veteran  Association, 
of  the  Veteran  Association  Brooklyn  City 
Guard,  Gr  Company,  Twenty-third  Eegiment, 
and  of  several  other  associations.  Most  of 
those  bodies  met  and  adopted  memorials 
expressive  of  the  sentiments  and  emotions 
occasioned  by  his  death.  The  testimonial  of 
the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
was  reported  by  a  committee  composed  of 
the  Eev.  Eichard  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  Carll  H.  De 


204  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Silver,  A.  Augustus  Healy,  the  Eev.  Charles 
E.  Baker,  D.D.,  C.  L.  Woodbridge,  the  Hon. 
Felix  Campbell,  and  Professor  Franklin  W. 
Hooper.  It  declared  the  loss  of  General 
Woodward  to  be  "as  unexpected  as  it  is  im 
measurable."  It  recited  the  facts  of  his  long 
and  intimate  association  with  the  Institute, 
and  said,  "  General  Woodward  was  fully  cog 
nizant  of  the  plans  of  each  and  every  de 
partment  of  the  Institute's  work,  and  followed 
the  details  of  their  organizations  with  untiring 
faithfulness  and  with  the  deepest  interest.  He 
was  a  frequent  attendant  upon  their  lectures 
and  meetings,  presiding  at  most  of  the  impor 
tant  gatherings  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Institute,  constant  in  his  attendance  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  of  its 
several  committees,  and  a  wise  counselor  in 
each  and  every  matter  that  pertained  to  the 
Institute's  interests.  His  great  experience  in 
public  affairs,  his  wide  acquaintance  with  the 
citizens  of  the  city  and  of  the  State,  together 
with  his  natural  organizing  power  and  execu 
tive  ability,  his  great  prudence  and  foresight, 
made  his  services  as  President  of  the  Institute 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  205 

and  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
wholly  unequaled  value.  His  open,  frank, 
and  generous  disposition,  his  lovable  and 
beautiful  character,  won  for  him  and  for  the 
Institute  over  which  he  presided,  success  in 
everything  that  he  undertook.  General  Wood 
ward  bound  to  himself  by  his  rare  and  admir 
able  personal  qualities  the  love  and  esteem  of 
all  the  members  of  this  Board,  as  well  as  of  all 
his  fellow-citizens  who  had  the  honor  and 
pleasure  of  his  acquaintance  and  the  inspira 
tion  of  his  example,  and  this  Board  has  lost, 
in  his  death,  a  personal  friend  most  dear  to 
each  of  its  members,  a  servant  most  faithful 
to  the  interests  of  the  Institute,  while  the  city 
and  nation  have  lost  a  most  valuable  citizen,  a 
brave  soldier,  a  beloved  and  honored  patriot." 

A  memorial  meeting  in  honor  of  General 
Woodward  was  held  in  the  Church  of  Our 
Saviour,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Brooklyn 
Institute,  on  Thursday  evening,  the  seventh 
of  May,  1896.  The  edifice  was  once  more 
filled  with  men  and  women  sensible  of  their 
loss  and  desirous  of  showing  their  respect  for 


206  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

the  memory  of  their  friend.  The  following 
order  of  exercises  was  observed : 

Organ  Voluntary. 

Prayer,  The  REV.  J.  C.  AGER. 

Hymn,  "  Dear  Refuge  of  My  Soul/7  BAUMAN. 
Opening  Address,  PRESIDENT  A.  AUGUSTUS  HEALY. 
Memorial  Address,  The  REV.  SAMUEL  A.  ELIOT. 

Memorial  Ode,  The  REV.  JOHN  W.  CHADWICK. 

Hymn,  "On  High  the  Stars  Brightly  Shining", 

RHEINBERGER. 
General  Woodward  as  a  Citizen, 

Address  by  GENERAL  STEWART  L.  WOODFORD. 
General  Woodward  as  a  Soldier, 

Address  by  the  HON.  WM.  H.  BULKELEY. 
Hymn,  "  Christian  Warrior  See  Him  Stand." 
Benediction,  The  REV.  SAMUEL  A.  ELIOT. 

A  complete  report  of  the  meeting  was  pub 
lished  in  a  volume  by  the  Institute. 

Other  expressions  were  equally  appreciative 
and  valued.  The  Hon.  Joseph  C.  Hendrix, 
President  of  the  Brooklyn  Club,  addressing 
Mrs.  Woodward,  said,  "  On  behalf  of  the  mem 
bers  of  this  club  who  were  honored  by  the 
friendship  of  your  distinguished  husband  I 
beg  to  express  to  you  their  sincere  sorrow  and 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  207 

their  genuine  sympathy  with  you  and  your 
family.  We  all  loved  your  noble  husband.  He 
was  dear  to  us.  We  shall  miss  him."  The 
secretary  of  Commonwealth  Lodge  F.  &  A.  M. 
wrote,  on  behalf  of  that  lodge,  "His  life  was 
governed  by  the  highest  standard  of  humanity. 
Generous  in  all  things,  large-hearted  and  open- 
handed,  patient  in  endurance  of  suffering, 
faithful  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life  in  the  per 
formance  of  duty,  he  leaves  a  record  which 
forms  a  bright  example  to  all  and  a  memory 
which  all  the  members  of  this  Lodge  will  cher 
ish,  happy  that  they  have  been  permitted  to  call 
such  a  man  by  the  sacred  name  of  brother." 
The  directors  of  the  American  Saw  Company, 
of  which  General  Woodward  was  at  one  time 
president,  said,  "His  connection  with  the  com 
pany  extended  over  twenty-five  years,  and  his 
wise  counsel  has  been  of  invaluable  service  in 
the  management  of  its  affairs.  His  absence 
will  be  generally  felt  in  the  work  of  the  com 
pany  and  at  our  meetings,  and  it  is  with  a 
sense  of  personal  loss  that  we  recall  his  strong 
and  kindly  nature  and  his  frank  and  genial 
manner,  which  have  endeared  him  to  us  all." 


208  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

The  minute  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Trus 
tees  of  the  Commercial  Mutual  Insurance 
Company,  of  which  General  Woodward  had 
been  a  trustee  for  about  twenty-five  years, 
contained  the  following  expressions :  "  He  was 
a  man  among  men,  a  man  of  rank  everywhere, 
of  simple  habits,  approachable  to  all,  gentle 
and  kind  to  a  marked  degree,  unassuming  in 
manner  and  unostentatious  in  life,  overflow 
ing  with  good  humor,  and  a  choice  companion 
to  such  as  chanced  to  be  intimate  with  him.  . 
.  .  .  Few  men  have  done  more  in  our  time  for 
the  great  public  without  compensation  than 
he.  ...  He  was  a  model  citizen  in  this  re 
spect.  Physically  he  was  a  man  of  stalwart 
proportions,  while  mentally  he  measured  up  to 
the  same  high  standard.  .  .  .  His  advice  was 
much  sought  by  all  who  knew  him."  The 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Atlantic  Mutual  In 
surance  Company  referred  to  his  "high  busi 
ness  honor  "  and  his  "  strong  and  positive  con 
victions,  with  his  faithfulness  in  the  discharge 
of  duty."  The  resolutions  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Franklin  Trust  Company  of 
Brooklyn  mentioned  that  "General  Wood- 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  209 

ward  was  an  original  member  of  this  Board, 
was  always  faithful  in  his  attendance  at  its 
meetings  as  well  as  in  committees,  and  .  .  . 
aided  the  administration  of  the  company  in 
every  way  possible,  and  sincerely  endeared 
himself  to  us  all."  The  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Third  National  Bank  of  New  York  de 
clared  that  the  members  had  "  through  a  long 
series  of  years  of  intimate  business  relation 
ship  learned  to  honor  our  deceased  associate 
as  a  wise  and  prudent  counsellor,  a  faithful 
friend,  and  a  citizen  of  the  highest  type, 
whose  most  earnest  purpose  in  life  was  the 
advancement  of  -his  fellow-men";  they  re 
ferred  to  his  "  calmness  of  judgment,  his  geni 
ality  of  manner,  and  his  sincerity  of  purpose 
in  all  things,"  and  added  that  he  "had  en 
deared  himself  to  us  to  a  degree  far  tran 
scending  ordinary  business  friendships."  The 
Maritime  Association  of  the  Port  of  New  York 
in  its  testimonial  stated  that  the  members 
"  have  lost  a  faithful  and  efficient  Auditor, 
whom  they  have  unanimously  elected  for 
eight  consecutive  years,"  and  spoke  of  his  "un 
sullied  record."  The  trustees  of  the  Birkbeck 

27 


210  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Company  recalled  that  "he  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  this  association,  and  ever  since 
its  institution  has  shown  the  most  cordial  in 
terest  in  its  welfare,  serving  as  its  Treasurer 
with  rare  efficiency  and  without  remuneration, 
and  as  a  member  of  its  directory  giving  un 
stintedly  of  his  time  and  priceless  experience, 
actuated  solely  by  a  desire  to  be  of  value  and 
assistance  to  his  fellow-men." 

The  Trustees  of  the  Brooklyn  Homeopathic 
Hospital,  in  the  minutes  adopted  by  them, 
said  that  in  the  death  of  General  Woodward 
the  hospital  "has  lost  one  of  its  oldest  and 
most  honored  members.  He  has  served  the 
institution  in  many  capacities,  continuously 
since  its  formation  in  1871.  Never  in  all  its 
history  has  he  failed  in  the  discharge  of  any 
duty  he  was  called  upon  to  perform.  Not  only 
has  he  given  generously  to  its  support,  but  he 
has  also  given  freely  the  wisest  counsel,  which 
in  certain  vicissitudes  was  of  supreme  value. 
Among  the  traits  of  his  character  which  were 
always  conspicuous  were  his  manliness  and 
uprightness,  which  sympathized  with  and  re 
sponded  to  every  sentiment  which  was  noble, 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  211 

straightforward,  and  true,  and  despised  every 
word  and  deed  that  was  false,  base,  and  small ; 
his  loyalty  to  every  friend  and  his  devotion  to 
every  cause  which  he  espoused,  and  the  abso 
lute  fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  every 
duty  large  and  small.  .  .  .  He  was  always  gen 
tle,  modest,  considerate,  and  kind ;  his  advice 
was  always  ready,  but  it  was  given  with  re 
spect  for  the  opinions  of  others.  His  noble 
presence,  his  winning  personality,  his  ripe  ex 
perience,  and  his  wise  counsel  will  be  missed 
in  many  circles  in  this  city,  but  in  no  place 
will  they  be  more  missed  and  deplored  than  in 
the  hospital  with  which  he  served  so  faithfully 
for  twenty- five  years."  The  staff  of  the  hos 
pital  also  adopted  resolutions  expressive  of 
their  sense  of  the  "  great  loss  to  the  hospital 
and  the  community." 

From  the  memorial  of  the  Rembrandt  Club 
the  following  expression  is  taken :  "  In  the 
death  of  General  John  B.  Woodward  the  Rem 
brandt  Club  has  lost  one  of  its  most  devoted 
friends  and  supporters,  its  members  a  most 
courteous  and  unselfish  associate,  and  the 
community  a  citizen  conspicuous  for  benevo- 


212  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

lence  and  approved  ability,  unaffected  mod 
esty,  and  wise  public  spirit."  The  testimonial 
of  the  Brooklyn  Art  Association  summarized 
the  record  of  the  General's  work  for  the  Asso 
ciation.  It  said,  in  part:  "On  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Brooklyn  Art  School  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Brooklyn  Art  Association  he 
contributed  generously  to  the  funds  required 
for  the  school,  and  was  interested  in  its  work 
and  prosperity  until  the  time  of  his  death ;  he 
assisted  many  young  artists  to  secure  the  ad 
vantages  of  better  instruction  in  art  schools 
in  this  city  and  abroad ;  and  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  painters  and  sculptors  of  our 
country  are  indebted  to  him  for  such  aid  and 
encouragement  as  enabled  them  to  take  high 
rank  in  their  professions.  General  Woodward 
was  largely  instrumental  in  completing  those 
arrangements  whereby  about  one  third  of  the 
stock  of  the  Art  Association  was  purchased  by 
the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
and  the  property  of  the  Art  Association 
thereby  preserved  for  all  time  for  use  in  car 
rying  out  the  purposes  of  the  incorporation  of 
the  Association." 


MEMORIAL  TEIBUTES  213 

Adjutant-General  E.  A.  McAlpin  in  general 
orders  announced  the  death  of  General  "Wood 
ward,  by  order  of  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  National  Guard  of  the  State.  General 
Orders  No.  2,  issued  by  Assistant  Adjutant- 
General  John  B.  Frothingham,  by  command 
of  Brigadier-General  McLeer,  referred  to  Gen 
eral  Woodward  as  "an  ideal  soldier  of  the  Na 
tional  Guard,"  and  said,  "A  military  escort 
for  the  funeral  suitable  to  his  rank  was  tend 
ered,  but  while  the  family  appreciated  the 
offer  their  preference  was  expressed  that  the 
burial  should  be  in  keeping  with  his  conduct 
in  life,  that  of  the  plain,  unassuming,  modest 
citizen." 

The  following  expressions  are  from  the  pre 
amble  and  resolutions  of  Rankin  Post  No.  10, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  They  mention 
the  General  "who  for  more  than  twenty-five 
years  was  a  member  of  this  Post,  whose 
friendly  and  sympathetic  interest  in  its  wel 
fare,  in  every  way  willing  to  assist  in  the 
objects  of  our  order,  and  whose  loyalty  and 
charity  were  always  manifested  whenever  the 
call  was  made  on  him,"  and  add,  "By  the 


214  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

unstinted  commendation  as  a  citizen  of  this 
city,  which  came  from  all  its  best  citizenship, 
we  his  comrades  do  rejoice  that  his  name  is 
found  on  the  roster  of  Rankin  Post  and  that 
we  have  felt  the  touch  of  his  comradeship,  and 
in  death  his  memory  to  us  shall  still  be  pre 
cious."  The  tribute  of  the  Commandery  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  Military  Order  of  the 
Loyal  Legion  of  the  United  States,  refers  to 
General  Woodward  as  "  one  of  its  earliest  and 
most  distinguished  members."  It  recites  many 
of  the  chief  events  of  his  life  and  summarizes 
some  of  his  characteristics,  and  concluding, 
says:  "He  was  a  Christian  gentleman.  .  .  . 
He  was  manly  and  honest,  he  hated  a  lie,  and 
he  despised  all  shams.  He  was  as  loyal  to  the 
city  and  the  State  in  civil  affairs  as  he  was 
true  to  his  country  in  its  time  of  trouble.  .  .  . 
To  those  who  knew  him  no  record  is  needed 
to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  this  rare  man, 
one  of  nature's  noblemen,  grand  and  irre 
proachable." 

The  preamble  and  resolutions  adopted  by 
the  "  John  B.  Woodward  Guard,  Company  E, 
Fourteenth  Regiment,  N.  Gr.  S.  N.  Y.,"  refer 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  215 

to  the  General  "whose  name  our  company 
has  carried  for  over  twenty-three  years,  and 
whose  counsel  and  advice  have  often  assisted 
us,  making  more  plain  our  duties,  responsi 
bilities,  and  obligations  to  our  country,  as 
guardsmen."  Part  of  the  preamble  is  quoted : 
"  The  severance  of  the  close  bonds  that  at 
tached  us  to  him  during  his  lifetime  are  now 
replaced  by  a  memory  which  we  shall  cherish 
and  transmit  to  our  future  comrades  as  em 
blematical  of  all  that  is  truest  and  best  in  the 
career  of  a  soldier.  From  private  to  major- 
general  step  by  step  he  rose,  honored  by  our 
State,  trusted  by  our  city,  and  in  each  call 
made  upon  him  still  further  increasing  our 
confidence  and  regard."  The  resolution  of 
Company  G,  Twenty-third  Eegiment,  form 
erly  the  "Brooklyn  City  Guard,"  contained, 
with  much  else  of  an  affectionate  and  lauda 
tory  character,  the  following  expressions: 
"  On  the  long  roll  of  honor  of  men  who  began 
their  military  service  in  our  ranks  no  name 
shines  so  brightly,  none  meant  so  much  to  us, 
as  that  of  John  B.  Woodward.  No  set  form 
of  words  can  tell  our  sorrow,  no  high-sound- 


216  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

ing  phrases  for  younger  eyes  that  shall  read 
this  in  years  to  come  could  preserve  to  them 
the  sweetness  of  his  memory.  .  .  .  His  high 
distinction  was  in  no  part  due  to  self-seeking. 
It  was  the  inherent  nobleness  of  his  character 
that  made  men  honor  him.  His  giant  frame 
was  but  the  tenement  of  a  great  heart.  His 
was  goodness  without  condescension,  strength 
without  violence,  nobility  without  pride.  He 
was  tender  to  the  faults  of  others,  yet  never 
weak ;  he  was  firm  yet  never  obstinate ;  he  al 
ways  spoke  the  truth,  yet  never  wounded  the 
feelings  of  any ;  and  when  all  is  said  it  only 
echoes  this — we  shall  not  look  upon  his  like 
again. "  The  Veteran  Association  of  the 
Brooklyn  City  Guard  said,  "With  our  com 
pany  he  was  first  identified,  more  than  forty 
years  ago  and  ever  since,  and  in  our  meetings 
and  social  gatherings  he  was  a  leader  whose 
conduct,  discretion,  and  apt  words  imparted 
life  to  the  festivities  and  a  charm  to  our  an 
nual  reunions."  Among  the  expressions  in 
the  resolutions  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment 
Veteran  Association  are  these:  "A  vacancy 
has  been  made  which  no  closing  up  of  ranks 


MEMORIAL  TRIBUTES  217 

can  fill.  ...  In  the  man  we  recognized  hon 
esty  and  ability;  in  the  friend  we  felt  sym 
pathy  and  sincerity;  in  the  commander  we 
acknowledged  justice  and  guidance;  and  in 
the  comrade  we  knew  the  love  and  fellowship 
of  a  noble  heart." 

The  minute  of  the  Shore  Road  Commis 
sion  said,  "...  General  Woodward's  public 
spirit,  pure  motives,  singleness  of  purpose, 
admirable  disposition,  exceptional  discretion, 
conciliatory  manner,  and  abundant  energy, 
that  enabled  him  to  cooperate  in  so  many 
movements  for  improving  the  city  and  ameli 
orating  the  conditions  of  life  within  its  bor 
ders,  made  him  in  recent  years  the  most  useful 
citizen  of  Brooklyn.  Future  generations  must 
be  made  aware  of  their  obligations  for  his  ser 
vices  in  promoting  the  progress  of  the  Shore 
Road,  but  only  his  associates  in  this  commis 
sion  can  fully  appreciate  the  value  of  his  lead 
ership  in  this  splendid  enterprise." 


28 


X 

HOME   LIFE — COMMEMOKATIVE   STATUE 

THE  time  General  Woodward  gave  to  the 
causes  that  have  been  named,  and  to 
many  others  that  are  unrecorded,  was  not 
taken  from  his  family.  His  home  life  was  one 
of  perfect  happiness.  In  1870,  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  May,  his  birthday  anniversary,  he  was 
married  to  Elizabeth  Cook  Blackburne,  daugh 
ter  of  Robins  Cook  Blackburne.  About  eigh 
teen  months  afterward  he  bought  the  house 
at  No.  259  Henry  Street,  Brooklyn.  Here  three 
of  his  four  children  were  born.  Here  one  of 
them,  a  boy  ten  years  old,  died,  and  exactly 
three  years  afterward  a  daughter,  aged  six 
teen,  bereavements  from  which,  notwithstand 
ing  his  native  cheerfulness,  he  never  quite  re 
covered.  And  here  his  wife,  his  oldest  son, 
Robins  Blackburne  Woodward,  and  his  old 
est  daughter,  Mary  Blackburne  Woodward, 


218 


GENERAL  WOODWARD'S  WILL  219 

watched  by  his  side  while  his  noble  life  ebbed 
away.  Except  for  these  children,  their  coming 
and  their  going,  the  General's  married  life  was 
uneventful  and  contented.  Nothing  can  tes 
tify  so  well  of  this  important  matter  as  his  will, 
which  was  written  by  himself,  and  is  appended : 

"  I,  John  B.  Woodward,  of  the  city  of  Brook 
lyn,  New  York,  do  make,  publish,  and  declare 
my  last  will  and  testament  as  follows :  I  give, 
devise,  and  bequeath  all  the  property  and  es 
tate,  whether  real,  personal,  or  mixed,  wher 
ever  the  same  may  be  situated,  of  which  I 
may  be  possessed  or  in  any  way  entitled,  ab 
solutely  in  fee  simple  without  any  conditions, 
limitations,  or  exceptions  whatever,  to  my  wife 
Elizabeth  C.  Woodward  and  to  her  heirs  and 
assigns  forever.  She  has  been  a  true,  faith 
ful,  and  devoted  wife  and  mother.  I  confide 
all  my  property  to  her,  knowing  full  well  that 
she  will  use  it  for  the  benefit  of  our  children 
more  than  I  should  be  willing  to  ask  her  to  do. 
I  constitute  and  appoint  my  said  wife  sole  ex 
ecutrix  of  this  will,  and  it  is  my  desire  that 
she  shall  not  be  required  to  give  any  bond 


220  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

or  security  for  the  discharge  of  her  duty  as 
such. 

"In  testimony  whereof  I  hereto  sign  my 
name,  this  tenth  day  of  March,  1893. 

"  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD." 

With  this  touching  and  characteristic  tri 
bute  this  volume  might  appropriately  end, 
but  one  thing  more  deserves  to  be  mentioned. 
The  first  shock  of  surprise  at  the  announce 
ment  of  General  Woodward's  death  had 
scarcely  passed  when  from  many  quarters 
arose  expressions  of  a  feeling  that  there  ought 
to  be  some  lasting  monument  of  this  peerless 
man.  In  the  evening  of  the  day  of  his  burial 
a  number  of  men  who  knew  his  worth  met  at 
the  Hamilton  Club  to  discuss  the  subject,  and 
there  and  then  formed  a  provisional  organiza 
tion  for  carrying  the  business  forward.  It 
was  then  stated  that  when  General  Woodward 
was  in  Paris,  the  year  before,  when  he  made 
his  long  journey  to  South  America,  his  young 
friend  the  sculptor  MacMonnies  had  persuaded 
the  General  to  allow  a  cast  to  be  made  of  his 
head.  The  knowledge  of  this  fortunate  act 


PLANS  FOE  A  STATUE  221 

at  once  determined  the  general  character  of  the 
monument,  and  a  sub-committee  was  appointed 
to  immediately  apprise  Mr.  MacMonnies  of  the 
desire  of  the  G-eneral's  fellow-townsmen  for 
a  statue  of  some  sort.  The  Hon.  Frederick 
W.  Wurster,  who  at. that  time  was  Mayor  of 
the  city,  entered  heartily  into  the  project  and 
invited  a  large  number  of  citizens  to  meet  at 
the  City  Hall  to  devise  ways  and  means  for 
effecting  the  purpose  described.  At  this  meet 
ing  it  was  resolved  to  erect  such  a  monument 
as  had  been  contemplated,  and  an  executive 
committee  was  appointed  for  the  more  con 
venient  transaction  of  the  business.  Subscrip 
tions  were  invited,  and  the  sum  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  mentioned  as  es 
sential  to  the  suitable  carrying  out  of  the 
design,  was  quickly  subscribed  by  a  large 
number  of  persons.  There  were  those  who 
suggested  that  the  statue  should  stand  in 
Prospect  Park,  of  which  General  Woodward 
was  so  fond,  and  which  he  had  done  so  much 
to  preserve  and  improve.  It  was  also  urged 
that  it  would  be  felicitous  to  put  the  bronze 
memorial  on  some  well-chosen  spot  along  the 


222  JOHN  B.  WOODWARD 

Shore  Road  with  which  his  name  is  indissolu- 
ably  associated.  But  at  this  time  it  seems  to 
have  been  finally  and  with  almost  universal 
approval  decided  that  General  "Woodward's 
statue  ought  to  stand  in  close  association 
with  the  great  museum  building  of  the  Brook 
lyn  Institute,  itself  a  magnificent  monument 
that  recalls  his  wisdom  and  foresight,  his  tact 
and  perseverance,  and  his  extraordinary  ser 
vices  for  the  education  and  refinement  of  the 
people  of  his  native  city. 


YC  51188 


M314105 


